IndiGo profit drops 75%; maintains rapid fleet, capacity growth

IndiGo reported a significant drop in profit for the December quarter, as the carrier continues its rapid fleet and capacity growth. The airline achieved a profit of INR1.9b (US$26.6m) for the 3 period, its fiscal Q3. This was down by 75% from the INR7.6b profit for the same period a year earlier. The carrier said major reasons for the decline were high fuel prices and currency depreciation. Capacity for the December quarter increased 32.9% year-on-year and is expected to be up by 34% in the current March quarter. “Very few airlines around the world have the operational resilience to absorb such rapid growth,” IndiGo founder and interim CE Rahul Bhatia said. Bhatia noted that although weakness in October pulled down the results, unit revenues rose in November and December. <br/>