SpiceJet reported an 18% growth in its net profit for April-June period at Rs 175 crore, the company said, making it the 10th successive profitable quarter for the airline.
Total revenue from operations were Rs 1,869 crore, higher than Rs 1,521 crore for the same quarter last year.
Before taxes, finance charges and other non-operating costs, SpiceJet had a profit of 248 crore as against INR 215 crore in the same quarter last year.
The company reported 93% passenger load factor during all three months in the period, making it the most successful in India in terms of filling up its seats.
Passenger yields — or money paid by an average passenger — grew 9% while its average load factor was 94.07%.
SpiceJet has recorded more than 90% load factor for 27 successive months, a feat unparalleled globally, it added.
The airline plans to add around six Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft during Q3 and Q4 and expand its Bombardier fleet by adding two more Q400s.
The airline currently has a fleet of 35 Boeing 737NG and 20 Bombardier Q-400s.
SpiceJet, which placed its biggest order yet for up to 205 Boeing airplanes valued at up to USD 22 billion earlier this year, also placed an additional order for 20 737 MAX 10 planes worth USD 4.7 billion and 20 conversions from the previous order at the Paris Air Show in June 2017.
The airline has also placed an order to buy up to 50 Q400 turboprop planes with Bombardier to consolidate its footprint in the regional markets.
SpiceJet’s massive aircraft order with Boeing were mentioned by US President Donald Trump during a joint press conference alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
The company had seen mounting losses under its previous owner, Kalanidhi Maran of the Sun TV Group of Chennai.
“From being on the brink of a near shutdown to being lauded for creating thousands of jobs in the world’s largest economy within a span of mere ten quarters, exemplifies SpiceJet’s amazing turnaround. We had an eventful quarter as we took off under the UDAN scheme and launched operations on two routes,” said Ajay Singh – CMD, SpiceJet.
The quarter also saw the airline launch its new retail venture, ‘SpiceStyle’.
SpiceJet has been awarded six proposals and 11 routes under the first phase of the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme.
During the current quarter, SpiceJet will start operations in the remaining sectors under the UDAN scheme, namely Kanpur, Adampur and Jaisalmer, making flying possible for more passengers.
SpiceJet has launched its flights on the UDAN routes of Mumbai-Porbandar-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kandla-Mumbai, while flights on the Hyderabad-Pondicherry-Hyderabad route are scheduled to take-off from August 16, 2017.
This quarter, the airline increased its regional capacity by 20% by adding three Q400 to its fleet.