Pratt team meets DGCA after four engines stall in a week on IndiGo Neos

New Delhi: The snag-prone Pratt & Whitney (PW) engine of yet another IndiGo Airbus A320 Neo stalled with a “big bang” and high vibration during take off from Kolkata to Pune on Wednesday (Oct 30). Since twin-engine aircraft can land safely on one engine, this Neo (VT-ITM) returned to do so at Kolkata and is now grounded there. This is the fourth case of PW engine on an IndiGo Neo stalling during take off within a week.
Hours after this fourth engine stall, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Kumar on Thursday afternoon met PW’s top brass, who had flown in from the US following the spate of incidents.
Kumar “told PW in no uncertain terms to comply with the orders (for replacing an engine each on 29 A320 Neos of IndiGo and GoAir that have more snag-prone engines under both wings within 15 days or else be grounded) by providing sufficient modified engines. After this meeting, the PW team and Kumar met aviation secretary P S Kharola who also reiterated the same to the PW,” said a person who attended the meetings.
“PW was told India is a very important market for them (IndiGo is the world’s largest A320 Neo customer) and that they should somehow expedite modified engine deliveries to the country and help avoid grounding of some or any of the 29 planes of IndiGo and GoAir. PW team will return to the US and inform Indian authorities of their replacement engine delivery schedule early next week,” said sources.
31/10/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Indigo CEO writes to employees, seeks their support afters its biggest quarterly loss

The Chief Executive of IndiGo Airlines, the country’s largest airline in terms of market share, has addressed all employees on the company’s performance in the last quarter July-September 2019. His communication was more in terms of reassuring the employees that everyone stands committed to the airline’s future and seeking their support in dealing with what the airline calls a weakening revenue environment.
The company reported a loss of Rs 1,062 crors, something no one would have expected. This figure is almost double that posted in the same quarter in the previous financial year.
CEO Ronojoy Dutta has explained in detail how the reported losses have increased including the one put out earlier that the operating lease liabilities, particularly the exchange rate changes resulted in higher payouts. The essence of this communication from the CEO to the employees can be summed up in his following sentences:
"We will be dealing with the weakening revenue environment with a sharper focus on cost for which we seek your support. Operationally, we should continue our focus on safety, our on-time performance and on delivering a courteous, hassle free service".
There may be internal communications on how the costs can be cut down without compromising on the safety and comfort of the passengers.
The CEO has pointed out that the unit revenue stood steady at 5.7% increase while only the unit costs had gone from 1.5% to 2.8% resulting in the unexpected loss.
31/10/19 S Mahadevan/News Minute

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IndiGo to carry 30% overseas traffic among Indian carriers during winter schedule

Budget carrier IndiGo has received approvals to operate 572 international flights per week during the winter schedule which is valid from October 27 till March 30, as per data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

All Indian carriers have received approvals to operate a total of 1,847 international departures per week during the ongoing winter schedule.

Air India, which is the largest international operator for outbound traffic, remained the leader in this race with 616 departures per week while its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express has received permission to operate 311 departures per week during the next six months.

IndiGo and SpiceJet were the biggest gainers of domestic slots and international traffic rights after the temporary but indefinite shutdown of Jet Airways in April 2019. Jet Airways was the largest international operator in India with a market share of around 13.8 percent. Air India had the second spot.

As per the international departure data for Indian carriers, SpiceJet can operate 229 international flights per week. GoAir has the approval to fly a small share of 5 percent or 91 departures per week. Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has received approvals for 28 departures per week.

As far as airports are concerned, Delhi will be the largest operator for Indian carriers’ international traffic with approvals for 490 departures per week or 27 percent of the national traffic.
30/10/19 CNBC TV18

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IndiGo becomes member of global airlines body IATA

New Delhi: Budget carrier IndiGo on Wednesday announced that it has become a member of International Air Transport Association (IATA) which represents around 290 airlines across the world, comprising 82 per cent of global air traffic.

The announcement came after IndiGo's expansion of international flight operations this year wherein it connected India with countries such as Turkey, Vietnam, Myanmar and China.

"With over 60 offices worldwide, IATA maintains relationships with governments and other industry stakeholders around the world, advocating on behalf of its members on key industry issues," said a press statement by IndiGo.
In March, SpiceJet became the first Indian low-cost carrier to take membership of the IATA. Less than three months later, its chairman and managing director Ajay Singh was elected to the board of global airlines body.

Indian full-service carriers Vistara and Air India are members of IATA too.


With 48.2 per cent share in domestic air passenger market, IndiGo is the largest airline in India, according to the latest data of Indian aviation regulator DGCA.

IndiGo currently operates around 1,500 flights every day to 60 domestic and 23 international destinations with a fleet of 247 aircraft.
30/10/19 PTI/India TV

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DGCA instructs IndiGo, GoAir to replace PW engines on A320neo aircraft

New Delhi/Bengaluru: India's civil aviation regulator has ordered domestic carriers IndiGo and GoAir to modify some of their Airbus A320neo aircraft fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines, linked to in-flight shutdowns, within 15 days to avoid their grounding.

IndiGo planes fitted with Pratt & Whitney 1100 series engines that have clocked more than 2,900 hours must have at least one modified engine, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement on Monday.
The DGCA said it has issued a similar directive to GoAir on Tuesday.

The regulator said a total of 29 A320neo planes are affected, of which 16 are operated by IndiGo and 13 by GoAir. The airlines together have more than 100 A320neo planes in their fleet.

For IndiGo, India's top airline, the restrictions come days after it posted its biggest-ever quarterly loss hurt by higher maintenance costs from leasing A320ceo planes to fill a gap caused by the grounding of A320neo due to engine issues.

The airline, owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd , said "it will cooperate with authorities and will comply with the next course of action."

GoAir said it has not yet received any such directive from the DGCA.

Pratt & Whitney said in a statement it is working with the airlines to address the issue with minimal disruption.
29/10/19 Aditi Shah & Chandini Monnappa/Reuters/Business Standard

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IndiGo's order for 300 A320neo family aircraft will secure future supply of aircraft for carrier into next decade, assure sustainable cash flow

Just last week, as we entered the Diwali weekend, IndiGo announced their results, announcing a loss of Rs 1062 crores for the quarter ended 30 September 2019. What stood out in the results was the ballooning costs of maintenance of aircraft, which spiked about 88 percent from the corresponding quarter last year. This cost was attributed to the older aircraft in the fleet, those called the ceo by Airbus. Each aircraft requires a detailed inspection at pre-defined milestones, and in the case of these older aircraft, the engines are heading back to the workshops for maintenance. This cost will be significant until the airline retires these older aircraft and has a fleet largely composed of the newer and more efficient neo engines, i.e., till 2022.
An airline business has a lot of moving parts, but to break it down simply: You buy aircraft, pay for fuel and all other monthly costs such as employees, airports, systems and so on, and the money left after is profit. However, in the case of IndiGo, which always makes big orders, there is one other factor at play, which is the income they generate from sale and leaseback.

An airline is supposed to pay a small token deposit when they order an aircraft. The bulk of the payment is made on delivery. By placing massive orders, IndiGo manages to get large discounts on the list price of the aircraft. For instance, the 2018 list price of an Airbus A320neo was $110.6 million, but IndiGo might even get it at 50 percent less. At the time of delivery of the aircraft, IndiGo sells the aircraft to a leasing company, making a profit of a few million dollars on the aircraft right at the time it is inducted in the fleet. It then pays a monthly amount to the aircraft lessor it just sold the plane to, for the use of the aircraft. IndiGo has built a massive cash chest of Rs 18,736 crores, with ticket sales supported by sale and leaseback of aircraft.

On Tuesday [29 October], Airbus and IndiGo announced the airline’s order of 300 A320neo family aircraft. The A320neo family includes the A320neo, the 180-186 seater aircraft which is the workhorse of IndiGo, as well as the A321neo, the 222 seater aircraft which can fly further than the A320neo as well, enabling the Delhi-Istanbul flights of IndiGo at the moment.
30/10/19 Ajay Awtaney/First Post

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IndiGo Plane Turns Back After Engine Stalls Mid-Air, 4th Incident This Week

New Delhi: One of the Pratt and Whitney engines of an IndiGo A320neo plane that was heading from Kolkata to Pune on Wednesday evening stalled mid-air, forcing the pilot to return to the Kolkata airport, making it the fourth such incident involving PW engines at the low-cost carrier in a week, a source said.
On three consecutive days from October 24 to 26, IndiGo had three in-flight PW engine shutdowns, compelling the aviation regulator DGCA to visit the airline's premises on Monday to review the maintenance and safety data.

"The Kolkata-Pune flight 6E-862 on Wednesday evening was gaining altitude and at around 9,000 feet, when one of its engines stalled. The pilot immediately turned back and brought the aircraft to the Kolkata airport. The plane is currently grounded," the source privy to the development told news agency Press Trust of India.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed the low-cost carrier on Monday to replace the PW engines of 16 A320neo aircraft, which were used for over 3,000 hours, within the next 15 days or face grounding of these planes.

It issued similar instructions to GoAir on Tuesday, asking it to replace the PW engines of 13 A320neo aircraft, which were used for over 3,000 hours, within the next 15 days.
30/10/19 PTI/NDTV

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India's IndiGo close to mammoth 300-plane Airbus deal: Sources

New Delhi/Paris: Indian budget airline IndiGo is close to placing a near-record order for more than 300 Airbus A320neo-family jets worth at least US$33 billion at recent catalog prices to cement its position as India's largest carrier by market share.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters that IndiGo, part of InterGlobe Aviation, was putting the finishing touches on an order that would include Airbus's newest jet, a long-range version of the single-aisle A320 type called the A321XLR.
IndiGo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday (Oct 29).

On Monday, a spokeswoman said there were no plans on the order front "as of now". Airbus declined to comment.

The expected deal caps a contest between Airbus and Boeing, which seeks a new endorsement for its grounded 737 MAX after British Airways owner IAG tentatively agreed in June to drop Airbus as its medium-haul supplier and commit to 200 MAX.

It comes days after IndiGo's biggest quarterly loss hurt by engine issues on its earlier A320neo jets.
A new deal for 300 A320neo-family aircraft would be worth US$33 billion at the most recent list prices, published in 2018, but a deal of this scale would come in well below half that after discounts, according to aircraft valuation experts.
IndiGo was among the first carriers to buy the re-engined A320neo in early 2011.
29/10/19 Channel News Asia

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Replace 16 Neo engines in 15 days: DGCA to IndiGo

New Delhi: India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday directed IndiGo to replace an engine each on at least 16 of its Airbus A320 Neos within a fortnight. The direction came after last week saw as many as four IndiGo Neos safely returning to where they took off from after their Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines stalled and experienced high vibration. If PW is unable to supply the required 16 new engines within 15 days, Neos awaiting engine replacement will be grounded till that happens.
Three cases that led pilots to switch off the snag-hit engines (called commanded inflight shutdown or IFSD) happened on consecutive days —October 24, 25 and 26. Since twin-engine aircraft can land safely on one engine, these three A320 new engine option (Neo) did so at their origin cities. In addition to these cases, another IndiGo Neo experienced high-engine vibration due to which it too had to return.
Alarmed at the sudden spurt of such cases, DGCA chief Arun Kumar asked his top technical officers to examine the issue threadbare over the Diwali weekend and then dispatched a six-member team to IndiGo’s Gurgaon office on Monday to “review maintenance and safety data”.
IndiGo has 250 planes in its fleet. Of them, 97 are Neos. Among the Neos, about 49 have got new and modified PW engines. The remaining 48 IndiGo Neos have older engines that are yet to be replaced by the ones modified to reduce their snag incidence.
The regulator found the problem is happening with PW’s unmodified engines that have flown for over 2,900 hours in climb phase. Unmodified engines that have flown for less than 2,900 hours are not yet showing this trouble.
Arun Kumar said: “About 16 Neos have unmodified (PW) engines that have done more than 2,900 hours on both wings. They will need to be fitted with one modified engine in 15 days, failing which, the Neos (which have not received a replacement engine) shall be grounded. This decision has been taken after studying the pattern and evaluating the risk.”
29/10/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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India's IndiGo Airlines eyes Tbilisi as next European route

IndiGo Airlines is planning to launch its second European route, to Tbilisi, in February 2020 using A321-200neo equipment, sources told the Indian newswire PTI.

The low-cost carrier has reportedly already conducted all inspections of the Georgian airport required to commence scheduled operations. However, neither the airline nor the airport would confirm the plans.

It is unclear from which hub IndiGo Airlines would serve Tbilisi. Its two main north Indian gateways at Mumbai Int'l and Delhi Int'l airports are well within the range of the type.
29/10/19 ch-aviation

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Third Daily Flight To Hyderabad Takes Off

Mysuru: As a Deepavali gift to Mysureans, one more daily flight to Hyderabad began operations last night. This will be the third flight to the City of Pearls and will be a direct flight. Among the other two flights, one goes via Chennai and the other is a direct flight. The 72-seater ATR aircraft, operated by low-cost and no frill Indigo Airlines, arrived at Mysore Airport at Mandakalli at 7 pm and took off at 8 pm.
The first day arrival was, however, delayed. From today, the plane will arrive at 6.40 pm and leave Mysuru at 7.40 pm. It will take about one hour 40 minutes to reach Hyderabad and the likely touch down time is 9.20 pm. The fare is Rs. 2,650 per person.
When the flight touched down at Mysore Airport, there were 21 passengers and there were 51 passengers when the plane took off. Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji was one of the travellers on the first flight which was flagged off by Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha.
Ticket bookings are open and this flight too is operated under Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ke Aam Nagarik) launched by the Narendra Modi Government to connect smaller and medium airports across India.
28/10/19 Star of Mysore

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Belagavi-Hyd flights take off

Belagavi: IndiGo started its second operation from Belagavi airport on the Hyderabad- Belagavi- Hyderabad sector from Sunday. The airline started its first operation between Belagavi and Bengaluru from September 8.
Indigo flight 6E 7966/7968 will operate daily between Hyderabad and Belagavi. It will depart from Hyderabad at 3.50pm and reach Belagavi at 4.55pm. It will depart from Belagavi at 5.15pm and reach Hyderabad at 6.40pm.
IndiGo is the second airline after Spicejet to operate flights to Hyderabad from Belagavi.
29/10/19 Times of India

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IndiGo airline employee, girlfriend nabbed at Kochi airport over impersonation charges

Kochi: An IndiGo airline staffer and his purported girlfriend were apprehended by CISF personnel at Kochi airport on charges of alleged impersonation for availing special concessional staff air tickets, officials said on Monday.
They said the incident took place on October 26 when CISF personnel intercepted a 23-year-old woman after they found her Aadhaar ID card suspicious.

CCTV surveillance of the terminal area showed that the woman was accompanied by a man, Rakesh Vyas, an IndiGo airline employee posted at Bhubaneswar airport, the officials said.

It was found that the woman was Vyas''s girlfriend and she was using the Aadhaar card of his sister to avail the concessional airline travel ticket, they said.

Vyas has a valid airport entry pass and the two had "replaced" the original photo on the Aadhaar card, the officials said.
28/10/19 PTI/Outlook

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IndiGo plans to enter Europe via Tbilisi from early next year

Mumbai: IndiGo is likely to commence operations to Eastern Europe early next year with a flight to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi as part of its plans to connect Europe, a source has said.
 The no-frills airline has already completed the safety risk assessment and station facility inspection of the Tbilisi airport, which is a mandatory exercise prior to launching a flight to a new airport, the source said.
 IndiGo was planning to launch its services to Georgia which lies on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, from this February. "All preparations are in place to launch services to Tbilis from early next year," said a source privy to development, adding the airline will deploy a 222-seater Airbus A321 Neo on the new route. He said the safety risk audit and station facility inspection of the Tbilisi airport has already been carried out, adding that any operator intending to launch a flight to a new overseas airport will have to conduct such an exercise as per the ICAO norms. The same rules apply even to a new airport as well.
 The IndiGo spokesman did not confirm or deny the plan. Queries sent to TAV Georgia, the operator of the Tbilisi international airport, did not elicit a response.
 25/10/19 PTI/Economic Times

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Dubai flight timing changed, fly to Dharamshala from November 16

Mohali: Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, will be commencing new flights under RCS (UDAN) scheme on Dharamshala-Chandigarh sector with ATR72 aircraft from November 16. The flight will operate six days a week, said Air India airport manager M R Jindal.
On the other hand, the timing of the Chandigarh-Dubai flight by private airlines IndiGo has been rescheduled from October 27 to March 28, 2020, owing to bad weather conditions, according to the winter schedule released by Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Friday. The flight which used to arrive at 10.20 am from Dubai will now touch down at 11am. The same flight will depart for Dubai at 4pm against the earlier scheduled departure of 3.45 pm. Five domestic flights were rescheduled for the season too. IndiGo has rescheduled its Kolkata-Chandigarh-Srinagar morning flight with a delay of 5 minutes. According to new timings, the flight will arrive from Kolkata at 7.15 am and will depart for Srinagar at 7.45 am. Air India has advanced the arrival of Leh flight by 20 minutes. According to the schedule, the Leh flight will arrive at 10.15 am.
Nanded Sahib flight timing changed
Air India has advanced the departure of Nanded Sahib flight by 35 minutes. It will now depart at 9am. The same flight will arrive from Nanded Sahib late by 10 minutes at 3.05pm.
26/10/19 Barinderjit Saluja/Times of India

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IndiGo is getting old while it battles slowdown and aggressive rivals

India's largest airline IndiGo announced its second quarter results on Thursday. The low-cost carrier (LCC) reported net losses of Rs 1,062 crore on revenues of Rs 8,539.8 crore for the quarter. The airline said that losses were incurred on account of forex losses on operating lease liabilities and higher maintenance costs. This is a sharp swing from the previous quarter when the LCC reported highest-ever net profits (of Rs 1,203 crore) in its 13-year history.

Firstly, the IndiGo management deserves appreciation for successfully managing to keep the fight at the promoter level away from the investors' attention. In a nearly hour-long call, and with over a dozen analysts questioning the management on the quarterly results, not a single question was asked on the ongoing fight between the promoters - Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal - which is surprising given that it's one of the most crucial issues at the airline.

The other major issue is that IndiGo is getting older, which is costing the airline a huge sum. For instance, the LCC reported higher maintenance cost of Rs 319 crore in the September quarter. This cost relates to the shop visits of its Airbus A320ceo aircraft. A320ceos are the older version of new generation A320neos. IndiGo's initial fleet was full of A320ceos, and the airline has started adding A320neos from March 2016 onwards. These A320ceos with IndiGo are now making second shop visits for maintenance. IndiGo's fleet of 245 aircraft includes 129 A320ceos, 89 A320neos, six A321neo and 21 ATRs. Due to A320ceos, the airline will keep incurring higher maintenance costs until 2022 until their strength in its fleet goes down considerably.
"A320ceos will start retiring from next year, and in higher volumes in 2022. The engines of these older aircraft are undergoing second shop visits, which are significantly more expensive than first shop visits. These second shop visits resulted in maintenance spikes in our costs," says IndiGo's CFO Aditya Pande.
25/10/19 Manu Kaushik/Business Today
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IndiGo operator InterGlobe Aviation reports biggest ever quarterly loss

New Delhi: InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss Thursday, amid fierce competition in India, illustrating how even the country’s biggest airline isn’t immune to challenges in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.

Loss at the operator of IndiGo widened to 10.7 billion rupees ($150 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of 6.5 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts on average expected the airline to post a net loss of 767 million rupees, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Key Insights:

• The loss was driven by foreign-exchange losses and a re-assessment of future maintenance costs, Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in a statement. The loss is its biggest ever as a publicly-listed company.
• IndiGo expects capacity to increase 25% in the year ending March 30; sees Q3 capacity rising 22%.
• IndiGo, the world’s top customer for Airbus SE’s best-selling A320neo jets, hasn’t gained market share since Jet Airways India Ltd. was forced to cancel all flights in April, as smaller rivals SpiceJet Ltd. and Vistara lapped up the defunct airline’s Boeing Co. jets.
• The billionaire owners of IndiGo, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, are embroiled in a public spat over corporate governance, clouding the company’s outlook. Shares of the airline, Asia’s biggest carrier by market value, have largely shrugged that off, rising more than 40% this year.
• Air-traffic growth in India has been muted as a slowing economy prompts consumers to cut back on discretionary spending. Indian airlines carried only 3% more passengers in the first nine months of the year than in the same period in 2018, compared with more than 20% growth in recent years. Indian regulators don’t expect the market to return to double-digit growth until next year.

24/10/19 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg/Print

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IndiGo Airlines co-founder sues other co-founder in the US

IndiGo Airlines co-founder Rahul Bhatia filed a case in the Maryland District Court in the United States seeking an order to retrieve the correspondence of Anupam Khanna, an independent director on the carrier's board, the Times News Network has reported.

Bhatia and his investment vehicle InterGlobe Enterprises (IGE), who own a 38% stake in the Indian LCC, have alleged that Khanna acted in coordination with Rakesh Gangwal, IndiGo's other co-founder, a 37% stakeholder, and a party to a public argument with Bhatia.

"In light of the evidence of cooperation between Khanna and Gangwal, the petitioners believe that Khanna is likely to be in possession, custody or control of documents and communications concerning the actions taken by Gangwal to the detriment of the company," IGE said.

Bhatia's group is seeking to obtain documents to use them in an ongoing arbitration in London.

In its filing in the Maryland court, IGE argued that communications between Khanna and Gangwal prove cooperation in an effort to reduce IGE's influence over the carrier in a breach of the shareholders' agreement.

"Khanna has historically aligned himself with Gangwal, and petitioners believe that he is 'acting in concert with Gangwal in a clandestine manner ... notwithstanding his position as an independent director on the board," the filing said.

Gangwal is a US citizen while Khanna is a resident in Maryland.
23/10/19 ch-aviation

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IndiGo Q2 preview: Rupee depreciation may dent EBITDAR margin

New Delhi: The Board of InterGlobe Aviation-led IndiGo will meet on Thursday, October 24, to report its September quarter earnings for the financial year 2019-20 (Q2FY20) amid fresh feud between promoters Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal.

Once considered resolved, differences between the two resurfaced on October 1, when Bhatia filed litigation against Gangwal in London under the shareholders' agreement, dated April 23, 2015. Since then, the stock of India’s largest airline has slipped 8.5 per cent, as against a 1.6 per cent rise in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.
That said, analysts expect the airline to report robust growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR), and revenue numbers for the recently concluded quarter.

“Healthy yield expansion (up 5 per cent YoY) along with robust revenue passenger kilometres (RPKM) growth (up 25 per cent YoY) will drive revenue growth of 27 per cent YoY,” wrote analysts at Edelweiss Securities in a result preview note. They peg the revenue at Rs 7,905.3 crore, up 28 per cent, from a revenue of Rs 6,185.3 crore clocked in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Q2FY19).

Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher, however, expect a higher revenue at Rs 8,364.7 crore, up 35.2 per cent YoY, on the back of increased international operation. The low-cost carrier’s (LCC’s) international market share was at 21 per cent of the overall capacity as on July 31, government data show. The international expansion aids lower average fuel costs as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) on overseas routes is exempt from state VAT and central excise tax.
As for EBITDAR, analysts on an average estimate the metric to grow up to Rs 1,433.4 crore, up in the range of 994 per cent YoY to 1,190.2 per cent YoY, but fall 46 per cent sequentially. The airline had logged an EBITDAR of Rs 111.1 crore in Q2FY19 and Rs 2,652.2 crore in Q1FY20.
23/10/19 Nikita Vashisht/Business Standard

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At seat 1A on flight 6E-283, a tired Nobel winner obliges selfie-hunters

Kolkata: There were many things unusual about flight 6E-283, which landed at Kolkata airport at 6.55pm sharp on Tuesday. Chief among them was the fact that not every day does a domestic flight to the City of Joy carry a Nobel Prize winner. The minute the Airbus A-320 landed, every other passenger and the crew walked up to Abhijit Banerjee. Some congratulated him heartily, some posed for selfies, while others simply wanted to look at him from close range without uttering a word.
India’s — and Kolkata’s — newest Nobel laureate was back home, and the city was overjoyed.
At 5.14pm, the take-off from Delhi, too, had been different. The usual on-board announcement was preceded by another line: “Today is a day to celebrate as we are fortunate to have Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on board,” the captain announced. This was followed by a standing ovation by Banerjee’s co-passengers, after which the captain handed him a hand-writen congratulatory note, saying he had made the country proud.
Banerjee, looking tired, spent the better part of the 1-hour-41-minute journey napping in seat 1A. But as soon as the seatbelt signs were off, passengers kept approaching him with congratulations and selfie and autograph requests, which he obliged.
Banerjee even refused to take coffee so that he could sleep on the flight. Even when he did manage to get some shut-eye, passengers walked up to him.
The flurry of activity of the past few days had evidently exhausted him, but Banerjee did not disappoint anyone who approached him. He even did not mind getting mobbed either at the Delhi or Kolkata airport.
At Kolkata airport, airport director Koushik Bhattacharjee went to the aerobridge to welcome Banerjee himself. “We were relieved when he finally stepped out after a good 12 to 15 minutes,” Bhattacharjee said.
22/10/19 Sumati Yengkhom/Times of India

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