Full-service carrier Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, reported a net profit for the quarter that ended in December 2022, its first since its inception. It also crossed the $1 billion revenue mark for the quarter.
The profit excluded unrealised foreign currency loss and non-operating income. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was also in the positive for this fiscal year. However, the airline is yet to disclose the bottomline figures.
The airline's international network saw a growth of over 180 per cent in 2022 with the addition of seven routes to Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. While the domestic network grew over 50 per cent with addition of six new routes to Coimbatore and Jaipur.
The quarter ending in December, is a seasonally strong quarter for the airlines due to festivals and year-end activities. This helped the airline grow its capacity by 37 per cent and passengers by 47 per cent. The airline has turned out to be the second largest airline in the country in 2022 with a market share of 10.2 per cent, overtaking cash-strapped SpiceJet Limited which is now at 9 per cent. The airline also registered a 11 per cent growth in the member base for its frequent flier program, Club Vistara. In the last year the airline flew over 11 million passengers across the country.
The airline also operates 280 flights daily with 53 planes.
Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said: "With significant network and fleet expansion and sustained growth over the last few months, 2022 has been a phenomenal year for Vistara in terms of our operational and financial performance. Each member of the Vistara family is incredibly proud of our collective achievements in an extremely challenging business environment that included the third wave of pandemic and escalating costs. We are now aiming for higher goals as we enter the next phase of our growth journey."
