Analyst Concall
InterGlobe Aviation capacity to grow 10% on year in Jan-Mar
This story was originally published at 19:34 IST on 22 January 2026
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--InterGlobe Aviation: See aircraft capacity up 10% on year in March quarter
--CONTEXT: InterGlobe Aviation mgmt's comments in post-earnings analyst call
--InterGlobe Aviation: Not yet finalised flight planning for summer
--InterGlobe Aviation: Pressure on co from fall of rupee continues to grow
--InterGlobe Aviation: Q4 flight capacity growth to tilt towards intl ops
By Anand JC and Arya S. Biju
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI – InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. is planning to increase its flight capacity by 10% on year in the last quarter of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), its management told analysts at a post-earnings conference call Thursday. "... our capacity growth for the fourth quarter is primarily driven by adjustments related to reduced schedule to align with the regulatory requirements," Gaurav Negi, its chief financial officer, said.
InterGlobe Aviation, which operates low-cost carrier IndiGo, has forecast an early-to-mid single digit contraction in its unit passenger revenue for the March quarter because of a high base from the year-ago quarter, when revenues had grown markedly due to the Maha Kumbh Mela held between Jan. 13 and Feb. 26. InterGlobe Aviation expects its cost per available seat kilometre, a metric which estimates the cost per unit of capacity, to grow in mid-single digit in the short-term.
For the December quarter, InterGlobe Aviation reported a net profit of INR 6.13 billion on revenues of INR 234.72 billion. The company disclosed a one-time expense of INR 14.67 billion, including INR 9.69 billion in costs related to new labour laws and INR 5.77 billion for operational disruptions in December.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had asked the company to curtail its winter schedule in December after InterGlobe Aviation was forced to cancel hundreds of flights daily at the beginning of the month. IndiGo had cancelled flights at scale after failing to adapt to new flight crew duty and rest regulations, officially set by the DGCA under Flight Duty Time Limitations norms.
"At this point in time, all our focus is to make sure that we have a smooth transition into the month of February, bearing in mind the capacity curtailment, which is there, which all in all is leading to that capacity guidance," its Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said. He stopped short of sharing longer-term capacity-addition plans, as the company has not finalised its summer planning.
The rupee depreciated sharply against the dollar in 2025. A large part of InterGlobe Aviation's costs - such as aircraft leases, aviation turbine fuel, maintenance and spares - are dollar-denominated. The company accounted for dollar-based future obligations of INR 10.35 billion in the reporting quarter.
"The headwind on the FX (foreign exchange) continues to grow on us, so it is becoming difficult (to forecast cost targets)," Negi said. "Average increase that we've seen throughout the year has been a 5% increase in FX. When we started the year, it was more toward a 2% or 3% increase. That's already gone up," Negi said.
The company currently has an exposure of $10 billion towards dollar-denominated costs, largely consisting of aircraft costs and maintenance obligations. To de-risk itself, InterGlobe Aviation had a billion-dollar hedging programme, which it has now increased to $3 billion.
It is also using cash on books to acquire aircraft to reduce the dollar risk. Additionally, the company is banking on the growth of its international operations to help reduce dollar exposure risks. "Today, we were largely doing domestic operations and short-haul operations. With the expansion to Europe, there is going to be a revenue stream that is going to generate non-INR-based kind of revenues, which is going to create a natural edge," Negi said.
IndiGo will ply India's first Airbus A321XLR, a single-aisle, narrow-body aircraft from the A320neo family, designed for long-haul flights. The company will commence operations using this flight to fly passengers between Mumbai and Athens from Friday and between Delhi and Athens on Saturday.
InterGlobe Aviation declared its December quarter results after market hours. Thursday, its shares closed 1.1% higher on the National Stock Exchange at INR 4,909. End
US$1 = INR 91.63
Edited by Saji George Titus
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