Ahead of its merger with Tata-owned Air India, Gurugram-based Vistara announced that its revenue has crossed the $1 billion-mark in the third quarter of financial year 2023. The airline, which started operations in January 2015, has reported its first profitable quarter in the October-December 2022 period.
The carrier’s first profitable quarter comes ahead of its merger with the Tata-owned carrier which could take place in the next 14 months. While Vistara didn’t disclose the profit figure, it said that unrealised foreign exchange loss has been excluded.
With a decline in Covid cases and a pick up in travel demand, Vistara said it grew its capacity and passenger traffic by 37 per cent and 47 per cent YoY, respectively. It is worth mentioning here that the full-service airline was the second largest carrier with about 10 per cent domestic market share, next to IndiGo’s 56 per cent share in calendar year 2022.
In a statement, the Tata-Singapore Airlines JV airline said it achieved strong performance in 2022, crossing the $1 billion revenue mark and remaining EBITDA positive in the first nine months of FY23. EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
“With significant network and fleet expansion and sustained growth over the last few months, 2022 has been a phenomenal year for Vistara, in terms of our operational and financial performance. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their consistent support and affection that make us stronger each day and inspire us to work even harder to delight them,” CEO Vinod Kannan said.In the international space, Vistara’s network grew by over 180 per cent in 2022 as it added seven additional routes including three new destinations (Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Muscat). It’s domestic network also multiplied by over 50 per cent. The carrier added 6 new routes including two new destinations (Coimbatore and Jaipur).
The Gurugram-based carrier currently employs over 5,000 employees and operates close to 8,500 flights per month. It expanded its fleet in 2022 to 53 by adding 10 aircraft and re-delivery of eight aircraft.
