Air India April-July revenues up 18 per cent at Rs4,299 crore

After going through a period of turbulence that stretched over a year, national carrier Air India seems to be pulling out of the rough patch with revenues increasing almost 18 per cent in the quarter-ending June this year as against the same period in the previous year.

The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) grossed a total revenue of Rs 4, 299 crore for April to July 2010, an increase of Rs 608 crore from April-July 2009.

At a time when several full-fledged domestic airlines have posted impressive growth figures, Air India too has been able to capitalise on improvement in the aviation environment.

The carrier, however, lags behind rivals - Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines. In the same period, India's largest airline and Air India's principal competitor, the Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways has seen a 21.7  per cent growth in its revenues as compared to the previous year.

During the same period, industrialist Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, which is struggling to meet vendor payments, saw a 30 per cent growth. These revenues are inclusive of income from passenger ticket sales, excess baggage, cargo and mail.

According to a report in the Indian Express newspaper which quoted an unnamed senior Air India official as saying that incase of India, the passenger load factor had picked up substantially.