IndiGo upbeat on profits this fiscal

"We expect to be profitable this fiscal too," IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh told reporters on the sidelines of a conference organised by global consulting firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

He said it was not just IndiGo, but other Indian carriers were also expected to make money this financial year. IndiGo was the only airline which made profits in the last few years when most other Indian carriers were in the red.

"By the end of this financial year, we expect 64 aircraft in our fleet. We have applied for more international routes and are awaiting regulatory approval. But we will try to increase frequencies on existing international routes," Ghosh said, indicating that frequencies could be hiked on the Dubai and Muscat routes.

The airline, which now has a fleet of 60 aircraft, would add one more by the end of 2012 and three more by March 2013.

IndiGo has deployed 12-13 per cent of its total capacity on international routes, he said, but refused to divulge how much the international flights contributed to its revenue.

To questions on airfares, Ghosh said these have been high this fiscal, primarily due to high fuel prices last year when airfares remained at the same level. "Margins are hence under pressure. Fares are high in step with increased operational costs."

Regarding decline in capacity, he said several carriers have deployed their capacity on international routes. The overall capacity had declined due to various reasons, not just because of the grounding of Kingfisher Airlines, he said.

He said passenger traffic had also declined in the past few months in line with the drop in seat capacity on domestic routes.