High average fares, increase in passenger numbers help AirAsia India trim quarterly loss

New Delhi: Low-cost carrier AirAsia India's loss before tax narrowed to Rs 15.1 crore in the three months to June, mainly on the back of higher average fare and increase in passenger numbers.The airline — a joint venture between Tatas and Malaysia's AirAsia Berhad — had a loss before tax of Rs 61.82 crore in the year-ago period.[caption id="attachment_4298073" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of an AirAsia aircraft. Reuters[/caption]In a recent filing to the Malaysian stock exchange, AirAsia Berhad said that AirAsia India recorded a total revenue of Rs 904.74 crore in the latest June quarter.The revenue is around 39 percent higher than the amount registered during the same period a year ago."Loss before tax narrows to Rs 151.1 million compared to Rs 618.2 million in 2Q18 mainly attributable to the higher average fare, load factors and number of passengers carried," the filing said.During the 2019 June quarter, average fare and unit passenger revenue rose by 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively."The group recorded a net profit of RM46.8 million for the quarter under review, a decrease of 54 percent against the net profit of RM101.6 million in the immediately preceding quarter ended 31 March, 2019 mainly due to the recognition of the past share of associate losses of AirAsia India," the filing said.In the three months ended June 2019, the airline carried more than 22.86 lakh passengers. At the end of June this year, the carrier had 21 planes in its fleet.