Air India net declines 82.54% in FY 05-06
The state owned Air India has registered a decline of 82.54% in its net profits at Rs 162.9 million in 2005-06, mainly on account of an increase of Rs 9.52 billion in the fuel bill that touched Rs 31.34 billion during 2005-06 from Rs 21.82 billion recorded in the previous year.
During the year, the airline reported an increase of 25% in its total revenues at Rs 96.77 billion, as compared to Rs 77.5 billion recorded in 2004-05. Similarly, there was also an increase of 25% in total expenses at Rs 96.6 billion in 2005-06 against Rs 76.9 billion in the previous year.
The airline, however, reported a 10.5% increase in passengers carried during the year at 4.86 million higher from 4.40 million carried during the previous year. The yield per revenue tonnes kilometres, which is the globally accepted measure of the capacity utilised by an airline, touched 62 cents, up from 58 cents recorded in the previous year.
AI has initiated a number of steps to bring down its oil bill, including increasing the amount of fuel it can hedge to 25% from this month. In January this year, the airline board had allowed AI to hedge on 10% of the fuel that it uplifts from abroad. During the eight months that the airline has been hedging on oil, it is believed to have managed to save close to USD 4,00,000.