Giving indications that it was gradually coming out of the red, Air India said on Monday it had posted operating surplus of Rs 21.66 crore (Rs 216.6 million) in November last year, with over half of its flights recording cash profits.The good news came days after the government approved infusion of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) as equity into the ailing national carrier.
Claiming it was 'a record in recent times', an Air India spokesperson said the cash profit of Rs 21.66 crore was 'largely possible due to significant improvement in efficiency parameters, coupled by better yield management strategies and a mushrooming number of passengers showing faith in the national carrier.'
Another significant indicator of the national carrier's operational efficiency was that 108 of the 194 flights on its route network in November 2010 had made cash profits.
During April-November last year, the airline had recorded a network revenue of Rs 7,250 crore (Rs 72.5 billion) compared to Rs 5,911 crore (Rs 59.11 billion) achieved during the corresponding period of the previous year, thus showing a robust growth of 22.6
per cent, the spokesperson said.
"The peak season for air travel would continue and our employees' commitment to meet the challenge is evident," AI chairman-cum-managing director Arvind Jadhav said.
In the April-November period, out of the total network revenue of Rs 7,250 crore (Rs 72.5 billion), Rs 4,401 crore (Rs 44.01 billion) was recorded on international flights compared to Rs 3,801 crore (Rs 38.01 billion) in the previous year, showing a gain of 15.8 per cent.
The network revenue on domestic flights jumped 35 per cent from Rs 2,110 crore (Rs 21.1 billion) in April-November 2009 to Rs 2,849 crore (Rs 28.49 billion) in April-November last year.
The airline also registered an overall passenger load factor of 66.3 per cent during the same period last year, up from 63.1 per cent achieved a year ago.
