Jet Airways, one of India's biggest carriers, has reported an operating profit of Rs30 million ($486,200) for the three months to December 31, ending seven consecutive quarters of losses after it benefited from a drop in fuel costs and increased revenues.

The Indian carrier, in which fast-growing Gulf airline Etihad Airways has bought a 24 per cent stake, had reported a Rs2.84 billion loss for the same period a year earlier.

Jet is the second-biggest airline by market share in India after privately-held IndiGo. Jet reported a net profit in the previous quarter due to one-off gains, including from the sale of its frequent flyer programme.
 
On the solid performaance, Cramer Ball, CEO of Jet Airways said: "At the beginning of FY15 we outlined a three-year turnaround plan to get Jet Airways back to profitability. Today our business performance provides hard evidence that we are turning the business around and are on track to achieve our targets."
 
“It is pleasing to report that we have achieved significant growth in all the major key performance indicators (KPIs) in a very competitive environment. While the global and local operating conditions have eased, we only expect to see the real impact of the lower fuel price in the next quarter,” stated Ball.
 
Compared to the same quarter of the previous financial year, Jet Airways’ financial performance improved by Rs287 crores or 101 per cent. The net profit before taxes is Rs3 crores compared to a net loss of Rs284 crores for the same period last year.

The airline’s total revenue (combined) for the third quarter FY2015 increased by nine per cent to Rs5,436 crores from Rs4,990 crores. Passenger revenues for Q3 FY15 rose by 8.8 per cent to Rs4,621 crores from Rs4,248 crores, and cargo revenue by 5.3 per cent to Rs382 crores from Rs363 crores, compared with the third quarter last year.  
 
According to Ball, the cargo division was a strong contributor to Jet Airways’ Q3 FY15 results. In line with the airline’s passenger ‘Guest First’ strategy; Jet Airways Cargo also refined its approach to customer interaction to further enhance the service it delivers.
 
"This was an important quarter for us as we commenced the roll out of our single brand full service product on all flights across our domestic network. This step is a demonstration of our commitment to enhance our service and hospitality," he stated.

Ball pointed out that said the enhanced global connectivity it now offers along with partner Etihad Airways and other strategic codeshares has helped in a sustained increase in its international passenger traffic.

Jet Airways currently has a fleet of 117 aircraft, which include 10 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, eight Airbus A330-200 aircraft, four Airbus A330-300 aircraft, 77 next generations Boeing 737-700/800/900/900 ER aircraft and 15 ATR 72-500 and three ATR72-600.

"Concurrently, our continuing focus on efficiency and network rationalization have helped in achieving an improved business performance," he added.-TradeArabia News Service