Air India posts operating surplus in Dec

Air India today said it has posted an operating surplus for the second month in a row with flights to 106 out of 179 destinations registering cash profit in December.

The ailing national carrier posted Rs 49.48 crore worth of operating surplus as against Rs 21.66 crore in November, an Air India spokesperson said.

The continuing trend of making cash profits was largely due to "a significant improvement in efficiency parameters and adoption of better yield management strategies", the spokesperson claimed.

The national carrier also continued to strengthen its performance in terms of number of passengers carried, total revenues and better yields.

Air India's combined passenger load factor in December last year was 70%. While its domestic operations recorded a high of 79.8%, the international routes registered a load factor of 67.1%, the latest figures showed, adding that flights to 106 out of 179 destinations made cash profits during the same month.

Air India's network passenger revenue during April– December last year rose up to Rs 7,941 crore compared with Rs 6,564 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, reflecting a growth of 21%.

International and domestic yields improved by seven and five% respectively in December as compared to the previous year, the figures showed.

Out of the total network revenue, Rs 5,008 crore came from its international services and Rs 2,934 crore from domestic.