IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) owner InterGlobe Aviation said in a conference call with analysts on July 19 that the collapse of Jet Airways, which suspended all flight operations on April 17, would enable it to increase its passenger capacity by almost a third during the current fiscal year which ends on March 31, 2020.
Interglobe posted a record profit after tax of INR12 billion rupees (USD174 million) for the first quarter of the fiscal year as the "cessation of services of Jet Airways positively impacted the profits this quarter, helping our unit revenues to grow by 2% to 3% to the best of our estimates," CEO Ronojoy Dutta said in the conference call.
IndiGo is now India’s largest airline by market capitalisation, Reuters reported, and in the near term, Dutta said he expected available seat kilometres (ASK) to grow by 28% over the current quarter and by 30% over the financial year. However, the Jet effect will reduce over the longer term, he added, “as all airlines have now replaced the capacity vacated by Jet.”
IndiGo's capacity for the quarter increased by 30% year-on-year, Dutta said, adding that he saw "significant opportunities for profitable growth by increasing our connections to tourist destinations in India. We're developing the Buddhist circuit, providing interconnecting service between Varanasi, Gaya, and Gorakhpur. The traffic flow into the Buddhist circuit will be enhanced as we add Vietnam and Myanmar to our network next quarter."
On the ongoing and highly publicised row between its co-founders, the chief executive said that Interglobe had submitted a report, which has not been made public, on an independent review by auditors Ernst & Young to the market regulator. The review, conducted after co-founder Rakesh Gangwal alleged corporate governance violations, found no major negligence at the company, local media reports said.
