Jet Airways declares its 11th consecutive profitable quarter

Jet Group Q3 (FY18) highlights include:

Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) increase by 8.7% to 14.98 billion ASKs with a marginal increase in the fleet.
Passenger revenues increased by 11.7% to INR 5,541 cr over Q3 FY17
Passengers carried increased by 13.4% to 7.7 million passengers
Passenger load factor increases by 4.4 points to 84%, compared to 79.6% in Q3 FY17
CASK-excluding fuel further reduced by 2.6% to INR 3.02 against INR 3.10 in Q3 FY17
Traffic from codeshare partners increased by 3.6% to 0.58 million passengers from 0.56 million passengers in Q3 FY17

Jet Airways Group reported its 11th successive profitable quarter with a net profit of INR 186 crores for the third quarter of FY18 against a net profit of INR 299 cr. for Q3 FY17 (which included a profit of INR 327 cr. on account of sale and leaseback of aircraft).

Supported by a well-differentiated product and service experience, the group registered marked improvements in key operational and business parameters, including capacity and revenue growth by reporting a total revenue of INR 6,412 cr. for the third quarter FY18 - an increase of 10.2% over INR 5,817 cr., for Q3 FY17. At the same time, revenues from passengers rose by 11.7% to INR 5,541 cr. and from Cargo rose by 39.3% to INR 510 cr. The airline also inducted 5 additional Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet in the period up to December, helping it strengthen its domestic footprint and services.

The Group’s efforts to bring in operational efficiencies for a healthier business continued to deliver results in the form of progressive reduction in non-fuel costs, despite strengthening of the Brent price and lower domestic fares. CASK-excluding fuel decreased by 2.6% to INR 3.02 against INR 3.10 in Q3 FY17. The fall was in line with the carrier’s recent announcement of achieving a 12-15 percent reduction in non-fuel CASK over the next couple of years.

Laying the groundwork for the future, Jet Airways also expanded the scope of its alliance partnerships. In perhaps the most strategic announcement of 2017, the airline signed the landmark ‘Enhanced Cooperation Agreement’ with Air France-KLM for the development of their operations between Europe and India. The agreement will see Jet Airways, Air France, and KLM cooperate to develop their commercial and product offering together, benefiting customers via extensive travel options and seamless service throughout the partners’ networks spanning 44 cities in India and 106 destinations across Europe. This agreement complements Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines’ transatlantic partnership between Europe and North America, offering access to over 200 destinations in North America, and establishing a global cooperation connecting the three continents. In fact, growing synergies with alliance partners helped Jet Airways expand its codeshare traffic and carry 0.58 million passengers during the quarter, up 3.6% over Q3 FY17.

In an equally significant development, Jet Airways Cargo also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Air France KLM Cargo to strengthen cooperation in the cargo sector between India and Europe.

The quarter also saw Jet Airways launching several new as well as additional services between key sectors, including non-stop services between Bengaluru-Amsterdam, Chennai-Paris as well as its third daily frequency between Mumbai-London. The airline also launched its first non-stop service between New Delhi-Riyadh and additional frequencies between Mumbai-Riyadh, Mumbai-Kuwait, Delhi-Doha and Delhi-Dammam sectors), strengthening its dominant presence on the Indo-Gulf sector.

Vinay Dube, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways, said, "Our efforts to streamline costs to ensure our competitiveness reflected in the continued fall in our non-fuel CASK to INR 3.02 during the quarter. The process to rationalise our cost structure is an ongoing one and will continue. Notwithstanding our challenges of low domestic fares and the rise in fuel prices by almost 20%, we expanded our B737 fleet as well as overall capacity by 8.7%, deepening our presence on key domestic and international routes. We also initiated several measures to enhance our product and service experience including refurbishing the interiors of our flagship Boeing 777s as well as bringing significant enhancements in our onboard menu choices - which form an integral part of our full service offering. We look forward to the arrival of our new aircraft – the latest, fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max, from June 2018 onwards.”

Jet Airways also celebrated the 20th Anniversary of its annual CSR programme Flight of Fantasy in November. Flight of Fantasy was conceived as part of the airline’s endeavour to nurture the dreams of children - especially those belonging to the marginalized sections of society, by opening up the world of aviation to them. Over the years, the appeal and scope of the programme has expanded to include kids with special needs, reflecting the emphasis Jet Airways places on human capability and the power of dreams.