InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates India’s largest airline IndiGo, today reported strong financial results for the third quarter ended December 2023 as more people took to the skies.
The company posted a net profit of Rs 2,998.1 cr, representing a massive 110.7% increase compared to the same quarter last year.
The festival season in 2023 saw a notable increase in air travel in India. This helped airlines fly more aircraft and keep them better filled, even as lower fuel costs reduced expenses.
IndiGo, for example, saw a 23% jump in passenger numbers during the quarter to 27.5 million. It also added more planes, increasing its capacity by a whopping 26.8% compared to last year.
Despite operating more flights, they flew fuller: Passenger load factor improved to 85.8% in the last three months of 2023, compared to 85.1% in the same period of 2022.
Indigo also generated more revenue per passenger this time compared to the previous year. As a result, against a 23% jump in passenger numbers, there was a 30% increase in ticket revenues to Rs 17,157.2 cr and a 23.8% rise in ancillary revenues to Rs 1,760.0 cr.
Yield per kilometer, an indicator of how much each passenger was paying to travel one km, increased by 2% to Rs 5.48.
Given the dip in crude oil prices, fuel cost per km per seat (CASK) declined fell 6.7% compared the previous year, even as overall cost per km per passenger fell only 5.2% due to a slower fall in other costs.
Forex losses also impacted the bottomline with profit excluding forex at Rs 3,049.1 cr, up 51.8%.
Commenting on the results, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said, “With these 5 consecutive quarters of profit we continue to recover from the losses of Covid and have now become net worth positive again.”
As of December 31, 2023, IndiGo had total cash balance of Rs 32,428 cr. The airline operated at a peak of 2,016 daily flights during the quarter across 86 domestic and 29 international destinations with a fleet of 358 aircraft.
On the way forward, IndiGo guided for around 12% capacity increase in terms of Available Seat Kilometers (ASKMs) during the January-March 2024 quarter compared to the same period last fiscal.
With air travel demand expected to remain buoyant, IndiGo last week placed a massive order for 540 Airbus A320neo family aircraft worth over $60 billion at list prices to cater to rising demand over the next decade.