India’s Jet Airways Group, an Etihad Airways Partner airline, has declared the highest annual net profit of $185 million for the year ended March 31, 2016, (FY16) compared to a loss of $342 million for the previous financial year (FY15).

Jet Airways, in which the UAE-based Etihad has a 24 per cent stake, achieved return to profitability a year earlier than the target set in its turnaround plan two years ago, it said.

The consistently strong financial performance has enabled Jet Airways to reduce its debt by $256 million during FY16.
 
Cost per available seat kilometer (CASK) excluding fuel dropped by 3.2 per cent to 4.96 cents in FY16, clearly indicating Jet Airways’ success in achieving operational efficiencies throughout its business, it said.

For Q4 of FY16, the company reported a net profit of $63 million, compared to a loss of $291 million for the same period last year. It marks the company’s fourth straight quarter of profitability.

Naresh Goyal, chairman, Jet Airways, said: “Jet Airways has been revitalised as a business in the last two years. Our focused efforts have resulted in significant improvement in operational performance leading to record profitability.

“Customer satisfaction, network enhancement and driving benefits through further improvements in operational efficiencies continue to be our key priorities. The Indian aviation industry is witnessing a growth phase and Jet Airways’ commitment to connect India to the world and vice versa is our contribution to India’s economic growth story,” he said.

“We are committed on delivering an enhanced guest experience and leveraging the commercial and operational synergies from our partnership with Etihad Airways,” he added.

The improvement in performance has been achieved largely due to the combination of enhanced fleet utilisation and optimisation of network, which enabled better integration between domestic and international operations.

Additionally, the implementation of a full service strategy across the domestic operation, supported by the “Guest First” approach along with an increased focus on premium traffic, has contributed positively.
 
James Hogan, vice chairman, Jet Airways and president and chief executive officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “We are very satisfied with the strong operational and financial performance achieved by Jet Airways.

“The return to profitability is a result of the effective partnership between Jet Airways and Etihad Airways. Between the two airlines, we have been able to provide a compelling option of wider combined network and exceptional guest experience for travellers to and from India.

“Etihad Airways is committed to its partnership with Jet Airways and is focused on driving further synergies, along with other Etihad Airways Partner airlines,” Hogan said.

Passenger revenues for Q4 FY16 rose by 3.1 per cent to $694 million, while EBITDA increased to $157 million compared to $44 million in Q4 FY15.

Overall codeshare traffic for the fourth quarter of FY16 grew 21 per cent to 570,000 passengers. A wider network of codeshares now enables Jet Airways to offer significantly enhanced global connectivity and has helped deliver the increase in passenger traffic. Codeshare traffic with strategic alliance partner Etihad Airways over its Abu Dhabi hub and with its partner airlines grew 45 per cent in Q4 of FY16, it said.

Jet Airways, together, with Etihad Airways, now has the largest market share of the Indian international traffic. - TradeArabia News Service