Higher fuel costs push India's top airline to bigger loss

InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of India's biggest airline IndiGo, reported a larger loss for Q4 Wednesday as higher fuel costs more than offset a rebound in demand for air travel. After two years of pandemic-curtailed travel, airlines globally have made a comeback in recent months riding on a wave of pent-up demand that has encouraged them to bump up capacity. But the industry's recovery faces risks from a surge in global jet fuel prices, which neared 14-year highs in the quarter after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "Although traffic rebounded and demand was robust during the latter half of the quarter, we were challenged by high fuel costs and a weakening rupee," CE Ronojoy Dutta said. InterGlobe's aircraft fuel expenses soared 68.2% to 32.21b rupees ($415.31m) in the period, while total expenses surged 31.5%. Net loss came in at 16.80b rupees for the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of 11.59b rupees a year earlier. However, the resurgence in air travel demand helped revenue from operations jump 29% to 80.21b rupees. Passenger load factor, or the passenger carrying capacity being used, rose to 76.7%.<br/>