IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) may decide not to pursue the fundraising initiatives it was looking at in July and August, as revenue from sales continues to increase.

In July, the board of directors of parent holding InterGlobe Enterprises opted to "further deliberate" on capital-raising measures such as a share issue and the offer of foreign-currency convertible bonds or non-convertible debentures. In mid-August, it announced in a stock market filing that it had approved a plan to raise up to INR40 billion rupees (USD545 million) through a share issue by way of a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP).

However, the message at InterGlobe's annual general meeting on September 4 was that the company's financial situation is improving as India reopens and that the option of raising money by selling equity shares may no longer be needed, the Economic Times reported.

“The plan to raise money through a QIP has a 50-50 chance, and the preferred path is to increase sales revenue,” IndiGo chief executive Ronojoy Dutta said at the video-conference meeting.

On July 29, IndiGo posted its highest quarterly loss of INR28.443 (USD387 million) for the first quarter of this financial year, ending June 30. But Indian carriers are starting to see an upward trend in travel demand.

Daily cash burn is down from INR400 million (USD5.45 million) to INR300 million (USD4 million), and fleet utilisation is in the range of 30-35%, a figure the airline plans to increase further, Dutta said.

Dutta reiterated that there is no plan to add widebody aircraft to the fleet at least until it takes its first A321-200N(XLR) narrowbodies, now set to start in the first quarter of 2024.

The airline is seeing its load factor edge towards 70%, according to Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, president and chief operating officer, although most bookings remain short-term, the financial daily Mint reported. IndiGo is now betting on the upcoming festival season (mid-October to end November) for a revival in passenger demand, he said.

"I am not saying that we are where we want to be. It needs a lot more improvement. I feel that with higher demand coming in the festive season, the situation will improve drastically," he assured.

"Lots of new business avenues, like charter flights and cargo, opened up during the pandemic. We now have ten aircraft in cargo configurations. These are quick wins. But the overall goal is to return to profitability. And these are steps to it," Prock-Schauer said.

IndiGo recently announced the resumption of flights between India and the Maldives, with a 2x weekly route between Kochi International and Malé starting on September 3. Of the carrier's current roster of 494 routes, 12 are international.