Jet Airways reports five-fold jump in Q1 net income

India's largest private carrier, Jet Airways, has announced a five-fold increase in net income for the first-quarter for the fiscal 2008-09. It said net income for the quarter rose to Rs144.9 crore ($34 million) from Rs30.88 crore ($7.24 million) a year earlier.

In a release, Jet Airways said it reversed ``excess depreciation'' of Rs916 crore ($214.92 million) due to a change in the accounting method. Revenue for Q1, ended 30 June, rose 46 per cent to Rs2899 crore ($680.19 million).

Jet said it had changed the depreciation policy on its single-aisle planes from the written-down value method to the so-called straight-line method. This method of depreciation charges equal amounts of depreciation to each period over the useful life of the asset.

Jet Airways, which has recently launched an ambitious international programme, has 50 new planes on order.

The carrier's fuel costs surged to Rs1,539 crore ($361 million) from Rs599 crore ($140.5 million), the statement said. Not unexpectedly it was the single biggest cost factor for Jet Airways.

The average rate of jet fuel in the quarter was Rs57.55 a litre, it said.

The carrier reported occupancy rates of 67.4 per cent for the quarter, as compared with 69.1 per cent a year earlier, the company said.

International operations contributed 48 per cent of the revenue, double from 24 per cent over the same period last year.

The carrier is poised to launch services to Dubai and Saudi Arabia in the second half of the year, beginning next month.