The largest Indian low-cost air carrier IndiGo announced its annual financial results, reporting continued losses amid the ongoing pandemic that curtailed international air travel demand.
In a statement, IndiGo recorded a net loss of 58.3 billion rupees ($801 million) in the fiscal year 2020/2021 that ended on March 31, 2021. The result marks a notable slump compared to a net loss of 2.5 billion rupees ($34 million) in the fiscal year 2019/2020.
The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India hit IndiGo even harder than the first one. Through the period of January to March 2021, the airline reported a net loss of 11.5 billion rupees ($159 million), up from a loss of 8.7 billion rupees ($120 million) a year earlier.
“This has been a very difficult year with our revenues slumping hard due to covid, showing some signs of recovery during the period December to February and then slumping again with the second wave of the covid. While we have seen a sharp decline in revenues in March through May, we are encouraged by the modest revenue improvements starting last week of May and continuing through June,” Ronojoy Dutta, the IndiGo CEO, said in a statement.
Earlier in June 2021, media reports indicated that IndiGo was planning to bring back the leave without pay system for its senior employees. India and its passenger traffic continue to suffer from the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The second wave has been difficult for all of us and has also resulted in reduction in passenger loads. As a result, our commercial schedule had to be curtailed accordingly,” Ashim Mittra, the Senior Vice President Flight Operations at IndiGo, reportedly wrote in an email seen by Indian media outlet the Business Standard.