Kingfisher Airlines net loss jumps to Rs 446 cr

The beleaguered airlines company — Kingfisher Airlines, on Thursday, for quarter ended December 31, 2011 (Q3) reported a net loss of Rs 444.27 crore up 74 per cent against a net loss of Rs 253.69 crore in the same quarter previous year.

The liquor baron Vijay Mallya owned airlines has also seen a 15 per cent decline in its total income to Rs 1,342.33 crore in Q3 from Rs 1583.43 crore in Q3 previous year.

For the 9 months ending December 31, 2011, Kingfisher reported loss of Rs 1,176 crore against full year loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11. High cost of fuel continues to be the major reason for the airline’s suffering as in Q3 cost of fuel was 37 per cent higher than Q3 previous year and accounted for 55 per cent of the revenue.

During the quarter Kingfisher’s passenger load factor has dropped to 75 per cent from 83 per cent in the previous quarter and its revenue per average seat kilometre (ASKM) at Rs 4.03 was lower than its cost per ASKM of Rs 4.42. Company also said that in the third quarter the domestic airlines industry’s capacity creation has outstripped demand with 17 per cent more capacity being added and, consequently, seat factor in the industry has declined to 74 per cent.

Segment-wise, total domestic operating revenues fell by 3 per cent at Rs 1,184 crore from Rs 1,227 crore in the quarter ended Dec 31, 2010. Total international operating revenues declined by 9 per cent at Rs 363 crore from 398 crore in the previous corresponding quarter in 2010-11.