TBM Staff - Mumbai IndiGo has reported a profit after nearly years due to increase in passenger traffic and yields in the December quarter. IndiGo reported a consolidated net profit of INR129.80 crore in the December quarter against a loss of INR 620.14 crore in the year earlier. “IndiGo’s Q3FY22 (October-December period) yields were higher because of pent-up demand,” Motilal Oswal said in a 6 February report. “That said, as per our airfare tracker, 30-day forward prices dropped sharply, -29% month-on-month (m-o-m) in January, and 15-day forward prices dipped 35% m-o-m due to the same reason but a reversal is likely as demand improves once again.”
Air passenger volumes had fallen sharply since December-end due to the emergence of the Omicron-led third wave of covid infections. However, traffic is slowly bouncing back since early February with a dip in fresh cases. From 350,00- 360,000 levels in early December domestic passenger traffic fell to sub 150,000 levels a day in January before clawing back to the 225,000 levels in early February. The recent rise in crude oil prices also poses a challenge for the aviation sector’s recovery from the losses it incurred in the past two years, largely due to the pandemic.
