Budget carrier IndiGo posts Rs 1,194 cr loss for Sept quarter

New Delhi: Budget carrier IndiGo on Thursday reported a net loss of Rs 1,194 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. It had posted a net loss of Rs 1,062 crore in the September quarter of the previous financial year. In the April-June period this year, the airline had incurred a net loss of Rs 2,884 crore. The airline’s total income stood at Rs 3,029 crore in the second quarter of 2020-21, a decrease of 64.5 per cent over the year-ago period, it said in a statement.

Its total expenses in the September 2020 quarter were Rs 4,224 crore, which is 55.9 per cent lower than the year-ago period. IndiGo chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta said, “We are slowly but surely stair-stepping our way back to normal capacity. While we are much focused on managing the crisis of the present, we are also reimagining the promise of the future.” “Once we are back at 100 per cent capacity, we will have lower unit costs, a stronger product, a more efficient fleet and a robust network. We are impatient for the arrival of the future,” he added.

The airline said its occupancy rate or load factor during the quarter was 65.9 per cent, compared with 83.5 per cent a year ago. Scheduled domestic flight services were suspended in India from March 25 to May 24 due to the lockdown. The domestic flights resumed operations from May 25 but in a curtailed manner. IndiGo said that as on September 30, it is providing flight services to 59 domestic cities.

India’s largest carrier had a total cash balance of Rs 17,931 crore comprising Rs 6,973 crore of free cash and Rs 10,958 crore of “restricted cash”.