New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) The country's largest airline IndiGo on Wednesday reported a 20 per cent decline in profit after tax at Rs 2,176.3 crore for the June quarter as airspace curbs and overall challenging operating environment crimped its bottom line even as the carrier flew 12 per cent more passengers during the period.

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo which had a domestic market share of 64.5 per cent in June, posted a profit after tax of Rs 2,728.8 crore in the year-ago period.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal, total income climbed 6.4 per cent to Rs 21,542.6 crore. In the year-ago period, the same stood at Rs 20,248.9 crore.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the June quarter was shaped by significant external challenges that created headwinds for the entire aviation sector.

"Despite these industry wide disruptions, we reported a net profit of Rs 21,763 million with a net profit margin of around 11 per cent for the quarter ended June 2025.

"While the revenue environment saw moderation, demand for air travel held strong as we served more than 31 million passengers during the quarter, reflecting a growth of around 12 per cent on a year-over-year basis," he said in a release.

The airline's total expenses shot up 10.2 per cent to Rs 19,231.9 crore in the three months ended June even as fuel cost dropped 9.1 per cent to Rs 5,832.6 crore during the same period.

"For the quarter, our passenger ticket revenues were Rs 177,917 million, an increase of 7.8 per cent and ancillary revenues were Rs 21,534 million, an increase of 22.1 per cent compared to the same period last year," the release said.

However, yield decreased 5 per cent to Rs 4.98 and load factor dropped to 84.6 per cent in the latest June quarter.

During a virtual interaction with journalists post results, Elbers said the situation with respect to grounded aircraft has improved and the Aircraft on Ground (AOG) is now in the range of "40s".

With the improvement in AOG, he said the airline has reduced some of the aircraft leases which has helped from a financial perspective.

While responding to a query, Elbers said the results would have been better without the airspace curbs. There has been an impact on the results, he noted.

In the wake of the India-Pakistan conflict, there are airspace restrictions and as a result, the airline has suspended flights to two destinations in Central Asia while some of the flights are taking longer time.

In the second quarter of 2025-26, IndiGo expects capacity in terms of ASKs (Available Seat Kilometre) to increase by mid to high single digit as compared to the year-ago period.

At the end of the June quarter, IndiGo had a fleet of 416 planes, including A320 ceos, neos, A321 neos, ATRs, A321 freighters, B777s, B737s and B787.

There was a "net decrease of 18 passenger aircraft during the quarter," the release said.

Meanwhile, IndiGo will fly 6 times per week between Mumbai and Amsterdam, and the services will be made daily from October 13. Currently, the airline operates three weekly flights from Mumbai to Amsterdam with a leased Boeing 787 aircraft from Norway's Norse Atlantic.

IndiGo will get the second leased Boeing 787 plane from Norse Atlantic in September.

Also, there will be four weekly services between Mumbai and Manchester from September 22 as compared to three weekly flights now. IndiGo's services to Amsterdam and Manchester commenced this month. PTI RAM ANU ANU