Operational turmoil clips IndiGo wings in December quarter
DGCA fines, staff costs and cancellations dent December-quarter earnings
New Delhi: India's biggest airline, IndiGo, on Thursday reported a 78 per cent slump in December quarter net profit as flight disruptions and implementation of the new labour code took a toll on its earnings. The airline reported a net profit of Rs 549.1 crore in the October-December quarter, compared with Rs 2,448.8 crore earnings in the year-ago period, according to a company statement.
The company said it took a hit of Rs 1,546.5 crore in the third quarter. This included Rs 577.2 crore due to massive flight disruptions witnessed during early December and another Rs 969.3 crore on account of the implementation of new labour laws. IndiGo was slapped with a fine of Rs 22.2 crore for the flight disruptions, which it has accounted for in exceptional items.
Currency movement related to dollar-based future obligations aggregated to Rs 1,035 crore in the December quarter. In the third quarter of the current financial year, InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, recorded a total income of Rs 24,540.6 crore, higher than Rs 22,992.8 crore posted in the year-ago period. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said in the December quarter, the company faced major operational disruptions that resulted in significant flight cancellations and delays from December 3 to 5.
"Despite these operational disruptions, IndiGo delivered a topline of around 245 billion rupees in the December quarter, reflecting a growth of around 7 per cent with a reported profit of around 5 billion rupees and an underlying profit excluding exceptional items and forex of 31 billion rupees," Elbers said. In the December quarter, the airline carried nearly 32 million passengers, and the total number of passengers flown last year stood at around 124 million.
"Exceptional items for the quarter ended December 2025 were RS 15,465 million, including estimated provision towards implementation of new labour laws of Rs9,693 million, costs related to operational disruptions of RS 5,550 million and penalty of Rs222 million as per the DGCA order," the release said.
