With the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic, airlines have experienced the largest demand shock in history. Overnight demand has evaporated and each passing day brings with it news of airlines grounding entire fleets. International markets are shut and for India’s airlines, contrary to the narrative that domestic demand will help mitigate the impact, the situation is actually worse. This …

As of this writing, forty airlines across the globe have announced a complete grounding of their fleet. Others ranging from Emirates and Lufthansa to AirAsia, Qantas and AirFrance-KLM are cutting capacity to as high as 90%. Massive layoffs, bankruptcies and airline shutdowns are likely. All this havoc driven by a particle that is one-billionth of a meter (a nanometer) in …

As the Coronavirus impact spreads and airlines prepare to brace for impact, the airline industry is facing its gravest challenge yet. Casualties have started. FlyBe – the largest regional airline in the UK has already ceased operations after an unsuccessful buyout and attempted turnaround. Other airline failures are all but certain. Forecasts from various industry quarters including IATA estimate a …

As the coronavirus continues to spread it is wreaking havoc on the airline industry. With 95,484 confirmed cases and 3,286 deaths, a vaccine and cure are yet to be found. Each day new cases are reported and air travel continues to be impacted. Forecasts from various industry quarters including IATA estimate a drastic decline in demand. Losses emanating from this …

As the government of India attempts to privatise Air India, media reports suggest the second time around is seeing renewed interest. Reports also indicate the government is keen the Air India brand is retained post any sale. One can see why. The airline is still India’s national carrier and the brand has a high recall value and familiarity quotient. Despite …

As the finance minister presented the Budget this Saturday expectations were that there would be some announcements related to aviation. This because of sections on the economic survey and also the fact that last year’s budget speech had laid out a vision towards India entering the aircraft financing and leasing market; the divestment of Air India; consideration for re-examining foreign …

Monday, January 27th was quite a newsday for Indian aviation. In what is becoming a tale of two airlines, while the national carrier came out with its Preliminary Information Memorandum looking for someone to take over 23,286 crores of debt and 8556 crores of losses (for FY19) the other airline Indigo reported profits of 496 crores with another 20,000 crores …

The airline industry is undergoing a transformation while it deals with disruptive shifts. Whether it’s the grounding of the 737MAX affecting capacity plans worldwide, the shift to low-cost travel or declining demand due to movements such as “flight shaming” in Europe – change is happening in a manner not witnessed before. This holds true even in the world of airline …

SpiceJet, now India’s second-largest domestic airline, reported its second-quarter results of the fiscal year 2019-2020 (Q2FY20) this Wednesday. It was a result that was met with mixed expectations and also one that seems to be underplayed. We attempt to present an analysis that may help deconstruct the figures. The focus has been on a net loss of INR 462 crores …

Indigo reported its Q2FY20 results on Friday. With a loss of 1,062 crores, the results caught many by surprise. It is too early to tell whether the results reflect challenges with the strategic direction the airline is taking (compare this to the profit of INR 1203 crore in Q1FY20) or if this was a one-off driven largely driven by operational …

As the government preps Air India for divestment, a key element of the plan is the reduction of the debt burden. The goal is to make the airline a better proposition for buyers. The debt reduction has been carried out by creating a special purpose vehicle (SPV) named Air India Asset Holdings Ltd (AIAHL) and moving half of the debt …

The recent announcement by Qantas regarding the 21 hour test flight has generated a lot of buzz. For the aviation industry the age of ultra-long haul flying (ULH) is here. Several flights are already operational, the most noteworthy being Perth – Heathrow, Singapore-Newark, Doha-Auckland and the very ambitious “Project Sunrise” of Qantas. The project is Qantas’ ambition to operate nonstop …

Indian aviation has been on a growth path. With demand growing by leaps and bounds, the number of aircraft in the skies has soared. And the growth is likely to continue. These aircraft are faster, more efficient and more advanced than ever before and much of this efficiency is by virtue of the engines. Each aircraft is powered by specific …

Indigo reported its Q1FY20 results on Friday. With a profit of INR 1203 crore it is the highest net profit for any airline in Indian aviation. The airline looked good on all metrics ranging from financial to strategic and operational. Interestingly, while this quarter was indeed driven by the collapse of Jet Airways, Indigo’s contention is that this did not …

Indigo seems to have encountered severe turbulence as the fight between the co-founders has now become very public. There have been accusations, counters and name-calling. The issues highlighted range from related party transactions (RPTs) to those of governance. And for an airline that now flies one in every two passengers in the Indian skies, is on a solid financial footing, …

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting recently concluded in Seoul. The event was quite anticipated given the unprecedented geo-political trends. The state of the industry and key focus areas were highlighted by the Director General Alexandre de Juniac in his speech. Key points of this speech that speak to trends were: Safety Flying continues to be one …

With the production of the Airbus A380 ending 2021, airline enthusiasts the world over are wondering if there will be a replacement aircraft that is as awe-inspiring. The end of the program is also interesting as it contradicts the fact that airports are increasingly constrained and indeed airlines will have to devise strategies to overcome this. Yet, the impacts are …

May will see the launch of SpiceBiz – SpiceJet’s business class product. It is a strategic shift for an airline that operates on the LCC business model and one that leverages the opportunity presented after the grounding of Jet Airways. The industry is abuzz with debate on whether SpiceJet can pull this off. Our contention is that SpiceBiz may redefine …

Jet Airways has suspended operations as of April 17, 2019.  It was an action that should have been taken much earlier. The debate continues on whether a consortium will successfully bid and re-start the airline or if the government will step-in. While the 16,000+ employees are still hopeful, the fact of the matter is that actions have left the airline …

The first day of release of the Expression of Interest (EOI) document for the sale of Jet Airways (download here) failed to see any formal response. Inspite of tomorrow being the deadline for submission investor interest has been tepid at best. We feel there are some key reasons for this lack of interest. No certainty on the price and value …