IndiGo reports net loss of Rs 870 crore in Q4; looks to shore up cash

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of Indigo Airline, on Tuesday laid out a roadmap that will enable it to combat the challenges posed to the aviation industry because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline is looking at shoring up cash on its books as it will take the sector a few quarters to deploy its full capacity of 262 aircraft. From returning 120 high-maintenance Airbus CEO aircraft to lessors and replacing them with the more cost-efficient Neos over a period of two years to not paying dividends this year, Indigo is on a mission to conserve cash and shore up liquidity.

The country’s largest airline said it was in talks with lessors to freeze lease rentals and with other partners to negotiate better credit terms. Indigo’s CEO Ronojoy Dutta said, “In times like these we should shift our focus from profitability and growth to liquidity and cash. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of Rs 20,400 crore, of which Rs 8,900 crore is free cash.”