Air India Express, the low-cost arm of Air India, has earned net profit of ₹296.7 crore in FY-17, for the second consecutive year.

The airline has been registering operating profit for the last four years, and for the first time earned a net profit in FY-16 amounting to ₹361.68 crore.

“The net profit earned in 2016-17 is particularly significant as the competition from Indian private carriers increased considerably during the year, added to that was the sluggishness of Gulf economies,” said K Shyam Sundar, CEO.

Despite the adverse market conditions, Air India Express increased its revenues by 14 per cent recording total revenue of ₹3,335 crore.

Prudent commercial and management interventions including better utilisation of its assets gave rise to reduction of about 5-7 per cent in unit costs contributing to the positive financial outcome.

Average daily aircraft utilisation rose to 12.2 hours from 11.3 hours.

The capacity offered by the airline went up by 33 per cent even as the airline’s fleet size increased from 17 to 23 aircraft.

The year also saw Air India Express expanding its wings to highly competitive markets out of Delhi and Mumbai. The airline’s pan-India footprint was further increased through launch of services from Kolkata and Chandigarh.

During the year, the airline has introduced online meal booking facility and launched mobile application.

Air India Express, India’s first international budget airline started operations on April 29, 2005, with three flights, taking off simultaneously from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

Currently, Air India Express has 545 weekly departures. The airline flew 2.8 million passengers in 2015-16; this figure increased to 3.4 million passengers in 2016-17.

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