CHENNAI: Surviving Covid-19 is the mantra of Alliance Airlines which has been reviewing its operation every two weeks to ensure the airline doesn’t operate on losses, said Chief Executive Officer CS Subbiah.
The airline, which has turned a new leaf by reporting an operating profit of Rs 65.09 crore for the first time since its inception on April 15, 1996, has been struggling like other airlines in the pandemic but Subbiah says the plan is to ensure the airline doesn’t run out of cash.
Currently, the airline, which was once operating 126 flights a day, is now flying 77 flights a day. The flight from Chennai to Jaffna, which bridged the connectivity gap between the two cities after 41 years, has now stopped and Alliance Air is looking for Sri Lankan government’s nod to open up the airspace in Jaffna and Palali, says Subbiah.
“Currently, we don’t have any major plans and our aim is to survive the pandemic,” he says. Interestingly, this comes as Airports Council International (ACI) World estimates the airport industry will suffer a -60 percent reduction in revenues, reaching an unprecedented loss of $104.5 billion. International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that airline revenues will be down at least 50 per cent ($419 billion compared to $838 billion in 2019).
Subbaih says Alliance Air has reported an EBITDA (net income) of Rs 482 crore, in a total revenue of Rs 1181.15 crore last year. These figures are for the fiscal year 2019-2020. The net profit of Alliance Air would have touched Rs 37 crore but for the adoption of the new accounting standard, which resulted in a net loss of Rs 201 crore.
Interestingly, the number of destinations has gone up to 61 from 55 in last financial year. With the increased number of daily departures to 126 against 109 last year, the total number of passengers flown were 1.64 million, an increase of 2.5percent with a seat factor of 73 per cent. While Alliance Air is adopting a cost-cutting measure to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic, Subbiah feels the festival season could help revive the dwindling fortune. “We have seen the worst now, it is time to fly ahead,” he says.
