Top Indian airline Jet posts 2.21 bln rupee Q4 net loss

India’s largest private sector airline, Jet Airways, on Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter net loss of 2.21 billion rupees (55 million dollars) after being hit by high fuel costs, the company said.

The loss for the quarter ended March 31 was against a net profit of 880 million rupees the previous year.
“We expect the next few quarters to be very challenging and will be impacted negatively by very high fuel prices. Airlines across the world are reeling under this oil shock,” the company said in a statement.

Fuel costs were higher by 1.28 billion rupees from a year earlier, the statement said.

“Jet, like other airlines, will face rough times if fuel prices remain high. They may opt to lease out future plane deployments towards international routes,” said Apurva Shah, head of research with brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher.

The company said that capacity induction during the quarter ending March has slowed down, growing by 18.1 percent against 36.7 percent a year earlier.

Asia Times