Interglobe Aviation Ltd , the operator of India’s largest airline IndiGo, reported its biggest quarterly loss on Thursday as travel curbs still in place to control the spread of the coronavirus hammered the aviation industry.
The global aviation industry has been among the worst hit by the pandemic and related travel restrictions.
The airline said it expects third-quarter Average Seat Kilometers (ASKs) to be around 60 per cent of its ASKs for the same quarter a year earlier.
“We are slowly but surely stair stepping our way back to normal capacity,” Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in a statement.
“Once we are back at 100 per cent capacity, we will have lower unit costs, a stronger product, more efficient fleet and a robust network,” he said.
The company’s second-quarter net loss came in at 11.95 billion rupees ($161.61 million), compared with a loss of 10.66 billion rupees last year.
IndiGo, which dominates the domestic market, said its total debt as of September stood at 254,194 million rupees, up 28 per cent from last year.
In June, IndiGo said it would cut up to 40 billion rupees in costs and speed up the return of older planes to leasing companies in an attempt to cope with the pandemic incurred hit to business.
{{/usCountry}}In June, IndiGo said it would cut up to 40 billion rupees in costs and speed up the return of older planes to leasing companies in an attempt to cope with the pandemic incurred hit to business.
{{/usCountry}}Revenue from operations plunged 66 per cent to 27.41 billion rupees, the airline operator said on Thursday.
(This report has been updated by Reuters. It removes reference to record quarterly loss in headline and biggest quarterly loss in paragraph one)