PremiumDespite the revival, Indian airlines are expected to incur losses worth $3.5-4 billion, excluding any adjustments, in FY22, aviation consultancy Capa India said in a recent report
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NEW DELHI : Indian airlines and airports made losses of ₹24,680 crore in financial year 2020-21 due to the disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic, VK Singh, minister of state, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said on Monday.
“The estimated losses incurred by airlines and airports in India in the financial year 2020-21 is approximately ₹19,564 crore and ₹5,116 crore, respectively," he informed the Rajya Sabha.
Domestic flight operations were suspended for about two months from 25 March 2020. Operations were resumed in a calibrated manner, with capacity restrictions and fare caps imposed on airlines. Capacity restrictions were removed on 18 October with the revival of passenger traffic.
Despite the revival, Indian airlines are expected to incur losses worth $3.5-4 billion, excluding any adjustments, in FY22, aviation consultancy Capa India said in a recent report.
Indian carriers need a continuous flow of capital, including $1 billion during the October-March period, to overcome these losses, Capa said in a mid-year outlook.
High fuel costs remain a concern and is likely to prevent airlines from breaking even or reporting a profit during the December quarter, the consultancy added.
Singh also said that four Indian airlines owed dues to the tune of about ₹2,702.48 crore to state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) as of 30 September.
While, Air India owes AAI about ₹2,350.62 crore, Alliance Air owes the company ₹109.81 crore, SpiceJet Ltd ₹185.52 crore, and GoAir ₹56.53 crore, Singh added.
Meanwhile, average daily domestic air passengers fell marginally in the week ended 4 December amid the emergence of a highly virulent Omicron coronavirus mutant in the country.
For the week ended on 20 November average number of daily flyers stood at 364,000, brokerage firm ICICI Securities said in a report on Monday.
On Monday, VK also informed the Rajya Sabha that AAI will spend about ₹25,000 crore in the next five years for expansion and modification of terminals, adding terminals, expansion or strengthening of runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, and technical blocks etc.
“Three Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru have undertaken major expansion plan to the tune of ₹30,000 crore by 2025. Additionally, ₹36,000 crores have been planned for investment in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode," Singh said.
“Government of India has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports have been operationalized," Singh added.
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