Vistara, the airline joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has narrowed its losses to Rs 431 crore in FY18, from Rs 518 crore a year earlier.
The airline's revenues jumped over 50 percent to Rs 2,228 crore from Rs 1,407 crore over the same period, according to documents filed by the company.
The financial results were recently cleared by the company's board, show documents accessed by Moneycontrol.
The improved performance will gladden Tata Sons, which has been exploring opportunities to build on Vistara's network and expand operations. The Tatas are said to be in negotiations to invest in
Jet Airways, even though talks have been
stalled over the future role of Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal.
" The company started the year with 23 existing routes serving 19 destinations. During the year, it expanded its network to 27 routes serving 22 destinations," Vistara said in its financial results report.
"As of March 31, 2018, the company had a fleet of 19 aircraft operating more than 750 flights/week. It operated close to 33,000 flights during the year under review and maintained OTP of 77 percent," it added.
In an earlier
interview with
Moneycontrol, Vistara CEO Leslie Thng had said the airline plans to start international service before the year-end. The airline will soon get its 22nd aircraft, Thng had said in the August interview.
Better parameters
The airline, which started operations in 2015, improved its performance on several parameters in the 2018 financial year. While its departures increased to 32,823 from 23,983, Vistara managed to reduce its costs and revenue margins.
Its revenue per available seat kilometer, or RASK, improved from Rs 3.36 to Rs 3.64. At the same time, its cost per available seat kilometer, or CASK, reduced to Rs 4.38 from Rs 4.71.
While its RASK is comparative to its peers -
IndiGo's improved from Rs 3.44 to Rs 3.64 - Vistara's revenue is higher than its peers, even though IndiGo's CASK increased to Rs 3.15 from Rs 3.04, mainly because of high fuel costs.
Authorised capital was also increased to Rs 5,000 crore from existing Rs 1,500 crore. And the company raised Rs 600 crore through rights issue to its existing shareholders during the year.
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