GoAir files DRHP for IPO: Here's what the airline said about its competition

Wadia group-owned Go Airlines (GoAir) on May 13 filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offering (IPO), a day after rebranding the airline as "Go First".

In the draft papers filed with market regulator SEBI, GoAir detailed how its performance compares with rival Indian carriers.

Also read: GoAir IPO | What the Wadia airline will use funds for, risks, competition, and other key details

GoAir and IndiGo have been the most consistent among domestic airlines in terms of profitability, according to the filing. From FY15 to FY19, the two were the only standalone carriers to report a net profit each year.

It noted that Air India Express, too, was profitable during the period.

"In FY2020, all carriers incurred losses due to a confluence of challenges including the grounding of A320neo and 737 MAX equipment, currency depreciation, increased maintenance costs at some carriers, the impact of COVID in the last quarter and the adoption of Indian Accounting Standard IND AS 116," Go Airlines said.

Also read: GoAir IPO | In risks, airline lists that brand is registered with company owned by promoter Jeh Wadia

The airline's domestic market share rose to 10.8 percent in 2019-20 from 8.8 percent in 2017-18. As of the end of FY20, GoAir ranks fourth in terms of market share, after IndiGo (48.1 percent), SpiceJet (15.5 percent) and national carrierAir India (12.3 percent), according to the filing.

In the DRHP, GoAir also said it has recorded domestic passenger load factors of above 88 percent for four years consecutively.

"GoAir has reported domestic passenger load factors of above 88 percent for the last four consecutive years, above the market's largest airline, IndiGo, and second only to SpiceJet," the company said.

In the two years to FY2020, GoAir saw the highest capacity growth in terms of available seat kilometre (ASK), the filing said.

The airline also saw high growing passenger revenues and the lowest cash per available seat kilometre (CASK) growth compared to SpiceJet and IndiGo during that period.