NEW DELHI: Air India Express, the low-cost arm of Air India, has earned a net profit of Rs169 crore in FY 2018-19. The net profit earned in the last fiscal is particularly significant as the aviation sector has had to face high input costs.
The impact of this on profitability was huge, as more than 40 per cent of the Airline’s operating cost was incurred on fuel. “Despite this we were able to drive-in profit by greater utilisation of our assets and resources, like aircraft, manpower and materials. Through concerted cost measures, the airline was able to contain the unit cost incurred on expenses other than fuel to be at the same level as in FY 18,” said K. Shyam Sundar, CEO, Air India Express.
The airline’s revenues grew by 16.07 per cent, going up from Rs 3,620 crore in FY 2017-18 to Rs 4,202 crore in FY 2018-19.
The number of passengers carried by the Airline increased by 12 per cent, to reach 4.36 million from the 3.89 million passengers carried in 2017-18. The Airline’s international carriage alone grew by about 10.5 per cent during this period.
Air India Express also inducted two more aircraft, to its fleet in September and October 2018. With the induction of these two aircraft, Air India Express expanded its network to three new Indian cities — Bengaluru, Kannur and Surat.