Kingfisher’s losses widen
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Kingfisher Airlines’ losses more than doubled in the second quarter of 2011-12 financial year. The carrier posted a net loss of INR469 crore for the three month period to 30 September 2011 – 103% worse than the INR231 crore deficit it posted in the corresponding period last year.
Kingfisher’s total revenues actually increased during the quarter, rising 8% to INR1,630 crore from INR1.516 crore in Q2 2010-11. The airline’s expenses however, surged, driven by spiralling fuel costs. Kingfisher’s fuel bill totalled INR817 crore in the quarter – a staggering 70% more than the same period last year.
While Kingfisher’s passenger demand, in terms of revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), did increase 18% year-on-year during the quarter, this failed to keep pace with the airline’s 26% capacity expansion. This caused load factors to drop five percentage points to 77%.
In an effort to address this oversupply of seats, Kingfisher’s CEO, Sanjay Aggarwal, this week confirmed plans to cut 40 flights from its schedule and to ground some aircraft. The airline also said it plans to “streamline its existing fleet order”.