By Nandan Mandayam
(Reuters) -India’s top airline IndiGo is hoping bookings will rebound in June, after demand for some routes took a sharp hit during the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in decades.
“Following the geopolitical disruptions, between April 22 to a few days back, we have seen some impact on our overall revenue due to increase in cancellations and impact on booking trends,” IndiGo’s chief financial officer, Gaurav Negi, said in an analyst call on Wednesday.
“Hopefully, we will have a strong June.”
The disruptions during the nearly month-long period impacted about 34 IndiGo flights out of its 2,200 daily departures.
Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir last month that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad.
The tensions had triggered airport closures across north-west India, including Jammu, Srinagar and Amritsar, and led to Pakistani airspace being shut to Indian carriers.
Negi’s comments came after the company reported a 62% jump in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday – its first quarterly profit rise in four – helped by robust demand for domestic air travel.
Asia’s most valuable airline by market capitalisation also reported full-year revenue north of $10 billion for the second year in a row.
The company, which has more than 400 aircraft, expects first-quarter capacity – measured in available seat kilometres – to grow in the mid-teens percentage range from a year earlier.
It will begin its long-haul services from Mumbai to Manchester and Amsterdam by July using Boeing 787 jets leased from Norway’s Norse Atlantic.
IndiGo’s shares closed 0.4% higher ahead of its quarterly results. They gained 12% in the quarter ended March 31.
($1 = 85.5170 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru, Additional Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in New Delhi; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Devika Syamnath)
