NEW DELHI, May 29: Flying into the red, IndiGo on Friday reported a loss of Rs 2,536.9 crore in the March quarter due to multiple headwinds, including challenging operating conditions and rupee depreciation.
The country’s largest airline had a profit of Rs 3,067.5 crore in the year-ago period.
For the 2025-26 fiscal, the carrier posted a net loss of Rs 2,393.6 crore, but excluding the impact of foreign exchange and exceptional items, it would have been a profit of Rs 7,502.5 crore, it said in a release.
Total income in the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal rose over 3 per cent to Rs 23,830.7 crore from Rs 23,097.5 crore in the same period a year ago, according to a release.
“For the quarter ended March 2026, IndiGo reported a net loss of Rs 25,369 million. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange and exceptional items, the company reported a net profit of Rs 19,206 million,” InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, said in the release.
Despite continuing external disruptions in 2025-26, IndiGo said its capacity rose 9.5 per cent on an annual basis, and the total income grew 6.4 per cent to Rs 89,513.4 crore.
“Exceptionally sharp rupee depreciation, changes in labour laws and a challenging operating environment offset the operational profit and the company reported a net loss of Rs 23,936 million,” the airline said.
In 2025-26, the foreign exchange loss was around Rs 8,100 crore, and the impact of the December flight disruptions stood at Rs 580 crore. Besides, the expenses related to the implementation of the new labour laws were at Rs 1,200 crore, as per the airline’s financial statements.
IndiGo MD Rahul Bhatia said FY26 was marked by an exceptionally challenging operating environment, which materially impacted its profitability.
“During the year, our capacity grew by 9.5 per cent, and total income increased by over 6 per cent. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange and exceptional items, IndiGo delivered a profit of Rs 75 billion,” he said.
In the June quarter, capacity in terms of ASKs (Available Seat Kilometres) is expected to grow around 3-4 per cent as compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2026.
During an analyst’s call to discuss the results, Bhatia, who is the airline’s Co-Founder, referred to the December flight disruptions and said, “our customers deserve better”.
The airline witnessed multiple challenges in the last financial year, including the massive operational disruptions, especially between December 3 and 5 last year — a period during which 2,507 flights were cancelled, and 1,852 flights were delayed, impacting over 3 lakh passengers at airports across the country.
In March, Pieter Elbers quit as the CEO, and later that month, the airline announced the appointment of William Walsh, a pilot and current chief of the global airlines’ grouping IATA, as its next CEO.
During the analyst’s call, IndiGo CFO Gaurav M Negi said the number of Aircraft on Ground (AOG) due to the Pratt & Whitney engine issues is in the 40s and is expected to come down to the 30s by the end of the year.
The airline had 441 planes in its fleet at the end of March this year, and it carried more than 123 million passengers in the last fiscal.
According to Bhatia, the single-aisle programme will always be the centre of its future, and there would be additions of XLRs and A350s. “It will be a hybrid model…,” he said about the business model.
Single aisle refers to narrow-body aircraft.
To a query on implementation of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), Bhatia said the airline’s “readiness is complete and would remain like that in the future”.
The airline’s domestic market share stood at 63.3 per cent in March.
Shares of IndiGo fell 3.27 per cent to close at Rs 4,418.40 apiece on the BSE. (PTI)
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