External Analyst

The writer(s) are external experts. Bangalore Aviation may not agree with the views expressed by the author. Authors prefer to remain anonymous for a variety of reasons but mostly since they are not authorised by their employers to express their views publicly on the record.

Jet Airways first quarter FY2018-19 results analysis

VT-JAX Jet Airways Boeing 737 MAX 8. Image copyrighted. Do not reproduce.

We ended our Q4FY18 analysis for Jet by indicating that, “Going forward, it seems that Jet Airways is headed for a turbulent ride. Debt will grow for the short-term. The revenue pressures are intense and the cost base is high. Addressing both these elements is critical to success.” While we forecast a result that would reflect ongoing challenges, little did …

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SpiceJet first quarter FY2018-19 results analysis

SpiceJet, reported its first quarter results of the fiscal year 2018-2019 (Q1FY19) last week. Much like its rival Indigo, it was a result that reflected the ongoing weakness in the market and was below expectations. Key numbers SpiceJet Q1FY19 results snapshot (in INR) comparisons to Q1FY18 Revenues ₹2,236 crores (up 20%) Costs ₹2,245 crores (up 31%) EBITDAR ₹398 crores (down …

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Analysis of Jet Airways’ fourth quarter and full year FY2017-18 results

Jet Airways Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Confirming the challenging nature of the market, Jet Airways posted a loss of ₹1,036 crores for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. This pulled the full year loss to ₹767 crores. This was their first loss after eleven consecutive profitable quarters and the first full year loss after 2 years of profit. The results reflect …

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The CEO churn in Indian aviation and why it continues

The nightly aircraft line-up tail parade at the apron of Kempegowda International Airport Bangalore

Even during a lull, the Indian civil aviation market never ceases to keep one on their toes. The recent weeks have seen three Chief Executives of Indian carriers in the news. First, Aditya Ghosh of IndiGo put in his papers after steering the ship for over ten years, apparently under pressure from the promoters. Amar Abrol of AirAsia India is …

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Analysis: Indigo’s fourth quarter FY18 results

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITK. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

Indigo’s fourth quarter results were far below expectations, reflecting the intensely competitive market and irrational market and also Indigo’s challenges as it continues its growth path. The results were announced along with the full year results, however we present an analysis only of the fourth quarter as it is reflective of certain trends in the market (a full year analysis …

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Analysis: What drove the Emirates to buy more Airbus A380?

Emirates Airbus A380 A6-EOV approaches Singapore Changi Airport. Copyrighted picture. Do not re-use.

In the weeks leading upto the Emirates A380 order there was much speculation on the future of the A380 program and if this glorious aircraft would continue to be produced. As the largest operator of the fleet type Emirates was central to the debate. Things came to a pass when at the Dubai Airshow Emirates ordered 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners …

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Analysis: Indigo third quarter FY2018 results. A leader in every way.

IndiGo ATR72-600 VT-IYA. Photo by Vedant Agarwal. Copyright. Do not re-use.

India’s largest domestic carrier, IndiGo, reported its third quarter results of the fiscal year 2017-2018 (Q3FY18) last week. The third quarter is the strongest of the fiscal year, and it was a yet another strong result coming on the back of a previously strong quarter. IndiGo Q3FY18 results snapshot with percentage comparisons to Q3FY17 • Revenues ₹6,449 crores (₹64.49 billion) …

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Opportunity and Parity- Pilot’s licenses in India

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Cockpit. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

by Poonam Verma and Apoorva Saxena Foreign pilots have enjoyed the privilege to fly steel birds in India for a long time. This, to a great extent, hampered opportunities available to Indian trained pilots. This treatment of foreign pilots in India is not being reciprocated to Indian pilots by foreign jurisdictions. This article throws some light on the opportunities and …

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Only one runway in 50 years. India’s lagging airport expansion.

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

In 2006-07, Mumbai and New Delhi airports were awarded to M/s GMR and GVK and entered an era of private airport management. In the mean time, private public partnership greenfield airports were in progress at Kochi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. Passengers across the nation waited with anticipation to finally be free of the poor service standards of the Airports Authority of …

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Analysis: Indigo second quarter FY2018 results: soaring high

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

India’s largest domestic carrier, IndiGo, reported its second quarter results of the fiscal year 2017-2018 (Q2FY18) yesterday. It was a result that surpassed expectations. IndiGo Q2FY18 results snapshot (in ₹) comparisons to Q2FY17 Revenues ₹5,506 crores (up 13%) Costs ₹4,741 crores (up 14.2%) EBITDAR ₹1,581 crores (up 61.8%) Profit before tax (PBT) ₹7,645 (up 333%) Profit after tax (PAT) ₹551 crores …

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Analysis: Jet Airways first quarter FY2018 results. Several challenges.

Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER VT-JEG performing flight 9W117 from London approaches Mumbai airport

Jet Airways reported results for the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year 2017-18 (FY2018 or FY18) yesterday. The results were a mixed bag and showed both areas of improvement and concern. Bangalore Aviation presents an analysis by an external industry professional as the editor of the site owns shares in the airline. The external analyst prefers to remain anonymous. …

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Has the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme failed to take-off?

Alliance Air (Air India Regional) ATR-42 VT-ABB.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation recently announced revisions to the Regional Connectivity Scheme better known as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik). The revisions and other industry developments show that the scheme has failed to takeoff. This is also reflects the hurried way in which the scheme was put out and the lack of consensus building and consultation. As a …

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Seven reasons why Indigo has bid for Air India

VT-ALA Air India Boeing 777-200LR at Delhi Airport.

Just as the cabinet decision for Air India was approved, the unsolicited bid by Indigo caught the entire airline industry by surprise. The surprise factor is perhaps best highlighted by the stock price which took a beating and fell on average by 8% in the two days following the announcement. However, the bid represents a very smart and planned move …

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Spicejet Q4FY17 results analysis

Spicejet Boeing 737-800WL VT-SGK at New Delhi airport.

Spicejet reported the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016-2017 results on June 3, 2017, a Saturday, not a working day for the financial markets. The timing of the results announcement was as interesting as the results themselves. Overall, the results were below analyst expectations and are reflective of the intensely competitive fare and capacity environment in Indian aviation. Key financial …

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Runway capacity challenges at Delhi airport

Runway 28 at Indira Gandhi International Airport at night. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport is looking to maximize efficiency of their runways via a series of measures. Bangalore Aviation has learned that the airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is working towards achieving a runway service rate of 104 movements per hour. This rate will include optimised pilot performance, optimised ATC performance and high intensity runway operations. Yet, …

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Analysis: Why did IndiGo decide to introduce ATR72’s in to its fleet?

IndiGo_A320 classic VT-INT. Photo: Devesh Agarwal.

Earlier this month, on the 9th of May, India’s largest domestic airline Indigo, announced that they had signed a term-sheet with French turbo-prop airframer ATR, for the induction of 50 ATR72-600 regional aircraft. The announcement caught the aviation and investment community completely by surprise. Since its inception 12 years ago in 2005, IndiGo had slavishly adhered to the “one airframe …

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Seven key implementation challenges of UDAN the Regional Connectivity Scheme

Tails of Air India and it's old subsidiary Alliance Air.

5 bidders were awarded routes under th;e regional connectivity scheme called UDAN and announced this Thursday. The selected bidders were SpiceJet Alliance Air TruJet Air Odisha Air Deccan These airlines collectively are scheduled to fly 128 RCS routes connecting the North, South, East and West parts of the countries with unserved and underserved cities.  Bangalore Aviation has been looking at …

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Christoph Mueller could be Etihad’s new CEO

Etihad Airways Airbus A320 A6-EIC at Kempegowda Airport, Bangalore

Industry sources indicate that Christoph Mueller is likely to be appointed as the CEO of Etihad.  The appointment comes at a time when the airline is facing severe challenges specifically —  a rising cost base and declining yields that resulted in the departure of its previous CEO James Hogan along with several other members. A turnaround expert A no-nonsense and extremely direct person, …

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DGCAs new regressive policy on callsigns

Qatar Airways Airbus A319LR cockpit

The DGCA has put out a circular with guidelines on avoiding confusing call-signs by operators. Presumably this comes about after a handful of incidents where callsigns were confused. However, this move by the regulator that fails to address the real issue. Full document may be accessed at: http://dgca.nic.in/aic/AIC02_2017.pdf Thoroughly confusing and impractical guildelines The guidelines have a bullet list of provisions. Who is …

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Analysis: Why is Indigo likely to enter the ground handling business

IndiGo A320 at Bengaluru airport

Indigo by any standard is a phenomenal success story. Starting out as the third player (after GoAir and SpiceJet) in 2005, it has captured a marketshare that is likely to cross 45% soon. Bangalore Aviation presents analysis on the company and where it will likely head: Capacity growth Indigo FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17E Fleet growth Base 17% 22% 14% …

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