Riding high on the rise in its passenger flow, Jet Airways has posted a 11 per cent growth in profit after tax (PAT) in its third quarter ended December, 2010. It recorded a PAT of Rs 118 core for the third quarter against Rs 105 crore for the same period last year. The airline witnessed 15 per cent more passengers in the quarter of 2011.
The airways carried 3.94 million passengers in the quarter and filling 79.3 per cent seats, compared to 80 per cent last year. Jetlite achieved a seat factor of 82.6 per cent in same quarter against 78.8 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.
The group's revenue increased 18 per cent at Rs 4,001 crore while Jet Airways posted revenue of Rs 3,515 crore, up 19 per cent. "The robust growth in the Indian domestic market is on the back of healthy GDP growth and continued business confidence. Airlines have achieved high levels of seat factors as well as yield growth," a company statement said.
The price of fuel went up by 5 per cent as compared to second quarter of 2010-11 and by 12 per cent as compared to third quarter of last year. "Crude oil prices, in the recent past have been increasing and we believe the impact of such costs will be passed on to the customer in the short to medium term without unduly affecting demand growth. The demand supply equation in the domestic market continues to be under control and over time, this will result in improved revenues per departure for the industry," the statement said.
Jet Airways' domestic operations posted revenue of Rs 1,579 crore, which is accounted for 45 per cent of total revenues. Domestic traffic for Jet airways grew 14 per cent for the quarter. International operations achieved revenue of Rs 1,936 crore which is accounted for 55 per cent of total revenues. International routes achieved seat factor of around 80per cent.
For the quarter, International traffic grew by 18.8 per cent. "The routes which we started in the last few quarters are fast maturing and with the help of strong hub network, they will get to profitability much sooner than our earlier routes," the statement added.