InterGlobe Aviation on Monday reported better-than-expected numbers for the December quarter of 2019 when net profits soared 168 per cent to Rs 496 crore. The parent of budget carrier IndiGo had posted a net profit of Rs 185.2 crore in the same period of the previous year.

This came as revenue from operations rose 25.5 per cent to Rs 9,931.7 crore from Rs 7,916.2 crore in the year-ago period. With other income of over Rs 398 crore, the total income increased to Rs 10,330.2 crore in the quarter from Rs 8,229.3 crore a year ago.

Passenger ticket revenue came in at Rs 8,770.30 crore, an increase of 24.1 per cent year-on-year, while the ancillary revenue stood at Rs 1,037.30 crore, a growth of 28.8 per cent over the year-ago period, the airline said.

The yield or average ticket price increased 2.1 per cent in the December quarter to Rs 3.88 per km from Rs 3.83 per km in the third quarter of 2018-19. At the same time, the fuel cost reduced 2 per cent to Rs 334.19 crore compared with Rs 341.04 crore.

Speaking at a concall with analysts, the airline’s top management expressed the confidence that they will be able to meet the deadline set by the aviation regulator to replace the Pratt & Whitney engines on its Airbus A320neo fleet.

“We reported a profit before tax margin of 5.6 per cent compared with 2.3 per cent a year ago. I am very enthusiastic about the way we have been developing our network, connecting cities, large and small, to provide more choice to our customers,” IndiGo chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta said.

He added that the airline started operations on seven new international routes and 17 new domestic routes and operated a peak of 1,634 daily departures during the quarter.

The airline said the year-on-year capacity increase in available seat kilometers (ASK), which is a measure of passenger carrying capacity, is expected to be 20 per cent for the March quarter and 23 per cent for 2019-20. For the financial year 2021, capacity increase in ASKs is expected to be around 20 per cent.