IndiGo plans to raise fares amid high fuel cost

By Ragini Saxena

IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, is expecting to raise ticket prices as it works toward becoming profitable amid rising fuel expenses, which dragged the airline back into a loss in the fourth quarter.

“Profitability is on top of our minds,” Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in an earnings call, adding hitting the sweet spot in ticket prices is a balancing act given that demand will drop if IndiGo keeps pushing up fares, he said. “There is a tug of war going on between very good revenue performance and very challenging fuel.”

The carrier, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., posted a loss of Rs 1,600 crore ($217 million) in the three months through March, according to an exchange filing Wednesday. The average estimate from analysts tracked by Bloomberg was for a loss of Rs 830 crore. It also marks a setback for the airline that reported a surprise profit of Rs 130 crore in the preceding quarter.

Also Read | IndiGo reports Rs 1,681 crore net loss in Q4 of 2021-22

Revenue rose 29 per cent from the same quarter last year to Rs 8,000 crore, while total costs jumped 32 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 9,900 crore. Fuel costs surged 69 per cent in the latest quarter, the filing said.

The emergence of the highly-transmissible omicron Covid-19 variant in India upended a nascent recovery that the aviation sector was witnessing in the second half of 2021 following a deadly delta-led outbreak in April and May last year. Credit rating firm ICRA Ltd. estimates that India’s airlines lost Rs 26,000 crore in the year through March.

“This quarter has been difficult because of the demand destruction caused by the omicron virus in the first half,” Dutta said in a statement Wednesday. “Although traffic rebounded and demand was robust during the latter half of the quarter, we were challenged by high fuel costs and a weakening rupee.”

Also Read | Amid turbulent skies, another churn in IndiGo cockpit

As IndiGo seeks to return to profitability, it will focus on maintaining its cost leadership position and building the most-efficient network in the region, Dutta said. IndiGo expects capacity to increase by as much as 60 per cent in the year ended March 2023 and by 150 per cent in the ongoing June quarter compared to a year earlier.

Domestic air traffic in January-March climbed 6 per cent to 24.8 million passengers from a year earlier, and authorities expect traffic to surpass pre-pandemic levels of 415,000 daily passengers within a year. With international flights resuming, airlines are also adding back capacity and enhancing services.

Shrinking Fleet

IndiGo had Rs 18,000 crore of cash and Rs 37,000 crore of total debt as of March 31. The revenue passenger per kilometer climbed 12.8 per cent from a year earlier. IndiGo’s fleet comprised 275 aircraft as of March 31, a net reduction of 8 aircraft during the quarter.

Also Read | Indigo could have done better

Several top-level executives have left the airline since billionaire co-founder Rahul Bhatia was appointed to a newly-created executive role of managing director in February. Fellow co-founder Rakesh Gangwal resigned from the airline’s board, as part of an agreement between the two.

IndiGo earlier this month said Dutta will step down on Sept. 30, and Pieter Elbers, chief of Air France-KLM’s Dutch unit, will replace him. Chief Commercial Officer Willy Boulter and finance chief Jiten Chopra have also left in recent months.

Dutta’s resignation was expected as he and Bhatia had a difference of opinion in how to grow the airline, Mark Martin, founder of Dubai-based Martin Consulting LLC said earlier in May. Bhatia will be taking point on IndiGo’s strategy and direction as he is well-versed in the Indian aviation market, while the new chief executive’s job will be more about managing the carrier, Martin said.