Air India has reported an operating profit of ₹105 crore for the year 2015-16 against a loss of ₹2,636 crore reported during the previous year.

The financials for 2015-16 were cleared by the airline’s auditors and approved by its Board here on Friday.

Earnings before Interest, Depreciation Tax and Amortisation improved to ₹3,587 crore during 2015-16 from ₹1,436 crore during the previous year.

Sources indicated that the net loss after interest stood at ₹ 3,587 crore from ₹5,859 crore in the previous year.

The airline suffered an exchange loss of ₹352 crore due to depreciation of the Rupee against the Dollar during 2015-16. Almost 70 per cent of the airline’s costs are Dollar-denominated.

Air India’s total revenues stood at ₹20,526 crore during 2015-16. This was marginally down (0.42 per cent) from ₹20,613 crore reported during the previous year.

The airline reported a seat factor of 75.6 per cent against the 73.7 per cent it recorded during the previous year.

Seat factor refers to the percentage of seats on offer on all the flights that an airline is able to sell. The airline carried 18 million passengers during 2015-16, registering a growth of 6.6 per cent over the 16.88-million flown during the previous year.

Air India earns almost 60 per cent of its revenues from international flights, while domestic flights account for the remaining 40 per cent of its revenues.

“The airline was able to deploy its aircraft for longer periods which has seen an improvement in the financials of the company.

“During 2015-16, Air India used its Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft for 12-14 hours a day from around 3-4 hours a day in the previous year.

“This was basically due to starting the non-stop Delhi-San Francisco flight.

“There are several such examples which have helped the airline,” a senior official said, when asked about the main reasons for the change in the financial fortunes of the airline.

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