New Delhi: The Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher
Airlines led the chart of the loss-making carriers by
reporting a massive Rs 1,602 crore in losses in 2008-09,
followed by Jet Airways with a loss of Rs 1,032 crore.
However on the positive side, the low-cost operators
--IndiGo and Paramount Airways-- managed to register profit
during the last fiscal, despite a negative growth of 4.66 per
cent in the aviation sector in 2008.
The balancesheet of IndiGo was in the green with a profit
of Rs 82.16 crore while the Chennai-based Paramount had a
profit of Rs 7.26 crore, Patel said in a written reply to a
question in the Lok Sabha.
Other budget airlines - SpiceJet and GoAir- suffered
losses of Rs 352.50 crore and Rs 22.55 crore respectively, he
added.
Meanwhile, the cash-strapped the national carrier Air
India also reported a loss of Rs 2,226 crore during 2007-08,
minister said, adding the airline also incurred a loss of Rs
65 crore during the five-day stir by its senior pilots this
September protesting against the management decision to slash
flying-related allowances and productivity-linked incentives.
In 2008, 41.3 million passengers travelled by air
compared to 43.3 million the previous year. However, between
January and October this year, domestic passenger traffic grew
by 3.32 per cent.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 20:43