India’s largest airline IndiGo reported a 75% drop in quarterly profit on Thursday after taking a 5.77 billion rupee ($63 million) hit due to mass cancellations in December that led to one of the country’s worst aviation crises.
IndiGo, which commands nearly two-thirds of the country’s aviation market, is facing a competition probe and increased regulatory scrutiny after it cancelled several thousand flights in early December due to poor roster planning, leaving scores of passengers stranded and throwing airports into chaos.
India’s aviation regulator has fined the carrier, issued warnings to senior executives and directed the airline to remove the head of its operations control from his duties.
InterGlobe Aviation, the airline’s operator, posted a profit of 6.13 billion rupees for the quarter ending December 31, down from 24.42 billion rupees a year before.
IndiGo tells India regulator that operations will be stable after exemptions expire
The carrier said it has taken a one-time hit of 14.67 billion rupees in the quarter, of which 5.77 billion rupees was the cost of disruptions and the rest was due to India’s newly-enacted labour codes.
The airline, whose domestic capacity was curtailed by 10%, following the crisis, said quarterly revenue grew 6.2% to 234.72 billion rupees.
It expects capacity measured in available seat kilometres for the lean fourth-quarter to rise 10%.
Its overall costs in the third quarter climbed nearly 10%, with fuel expenses rising 8%.
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