Indian carrier SpiceJet's Q1 profit drops on fewer flights

Indian budget carrier SpiceJet reported a drop in Q1 profit on Wednesday, as it flew fewer passengers amid legal and financial troubles. The company reported a standalone profit of 1.50b rupees ($17.9m) for the quarter ended June 30, down 26.7% from last year. This excludes the business of its subsidiaries, including SpiceXpress and Logistics. SpiceJet has been struggling to scale up operations as some lessors took it to court to settle unpaid dues, and also requested that the country's aviation regulator de-register their planes. This also cost the company market share, which fell to 4.2% in April-June from 5.2% last year. The company is making attempts to restore full operations and boost capacity, including reaching settlements with some lessors and raising funds. It most recently announced a fundraise of $360m. As of March, the airline had an operational fleet of 39 aircraft, mostly Boeing 737s and a few Bombardier Q400 jets. The number of passengers flown by SpiceJet in the reporting quarter fell 17% from last year to about 1.7m people, according to data from India's aviation regulator - a smaller drop than that seen throughout the previous fiscal year. Its total revenue from operations fell 15.3% to 16.96b rupees, its smallest drop since the quarter ended March 31, 2023. SpiceJet reported its third- and fourth-quarter results together in July after delaying them for unspecified reasons. It reported a third-quarter loss, although its fourth-quarter profit was boosted by a settlement with a financing agency.<br/>