'Can't wait to see new interiors': Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma hails Air India's operating profit in FY25

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Sunday lauded Air India's return to profitability, calling it a major milestone for the Tata Group-owned airline. Reacting to a Business Line report that revealed Air India posted an operating profit in FY25, Sharma said: "Glad Air India is back in profits. It will get budgetary love in due upgrades. I heard that they have taken practically all possible aircraft available for lease in the world. Can’t wait to see new interiors on all international routes and fly non-stop Air India."

His comments follow a significant financial turnaround for the airline, which saw its revenue reportedly rise by nearly 14% to ₹61,000 crore in FY25, driven by lower fuel costs and a surge in passenger numbers. Air India carried 44 million passengers during the year, registering a 9.9% annual growth.

Citing sources, Business Line reported that Air India's EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and rent) "landed in the black," marking a long-awaited return to operational profitability. The exact value of the profit had not yet been disclosed, but the numbers were presented to the airline’s board in a recent meeting.

The gains come on the back of the airline's ongoing transformation under the Vihaan.AI programme, aimed at overhauling operations, fleet, and service quality. During FY24, Air India had already recorded a 23.69% increase in turnover, reaching ₹38,812 crore from ₹31,377 crore the previous year. It also posted its highest-ever consolidated annual operating revenue of ₹51,365 crore, up 24.5% over FY23.

According to the report, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson recently said that the Vihaan.AI programme had passed its halfway mark. He said the key thing left was to upgrade the legacy aircraft, which had been more challenging than it had been initially expected. To that end, Air India has placed an order for 570 new aircraft, which is expected to modernise its fleet and help expand international operations.

Tata Sons officially took over Air India from the Indian government on January 27, 2022, nearly 69 years after the airline was nationalised. As part of the acquisition deal, Tata Sons, through its subsidiary Talace, agreed to pay ₹18,000 crore — of which ₹2,700 crore was paid in cash to the government and the remaining ₹15,300 crore was taken on as Air India's debt. At the time of the sale, the airline had a total debt burden of around ₹61,562 crore, with the government retaining ₹46,262 crore of that liability under a special purpose vehicle, Air India Asset Holding Ltd.

Before the Tata acquisition, Air India had reported a standalone net loss of approximately ₹6,927 crore during the April–December 2021 period . Notably, the preceding quarter (July–September 2021) alone posted a loss of ₹561.7 crore.