Domestic airlines' loss pegged at $1.2 bn in FY14: CAPA

Air India expected to post loss of $ 700 million (about Rs 4,340 cr) for current fiscal

Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are expected to post a combined loss of $ 1.2 billion (about Rs 7,440 crore) for FY 2014, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said in its report today.

Air India is expected to post a loss of $ 700 million (about Rs 4340 crore) for the current fiscal though it is an improvement over its previous result, the consultancy has said. Jet Airways and SpiceJet are likely to post record losses, it said.

CAPA estimates domestic traffic growth in FY 2015 in low single digit due to weakness in economy and said there is a uncertainty about the impact of new airlines including AirAsia, Tata Singapore Airlines and a fare ware could boost traffic growth at the cost of airlines' financial health.

However international traffic is expected to grow at the rate of 10-12% in FY 2015 and could exceed 15% if the government relaxes its rules on international operations and signs more bilateral traffic right treaties.

The report said domestic airlines are looking to freeze their capacity at the current levels or make a modest expansion next year. Jet Airways is expected to freeze its domestic capacity at the current level and SpiceJet is conducting a review of its operations which could see a short term reduction of its domestic reduction by about ten planes.