IndiGo Shares Tumble; Mcap Declines Rs 17,884 Cr

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, tanked nearly 9 per cent on Monday, wiping out Rs 17,884.76 crore from its market valuation as the disruptions in the crisis-hit airline's flight operations entered the seventh day.

The stock plunged 8.62 per cent to settle at Rs 4,907.50 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

On the BSE, the Gurugram-based Interglobe Aviation's scrip slumped by 8.28 per cent to close at Rs 4,926.55 apiece.

During the session, the counter hit an intraday low of Rs 4,842.20 and Rs 4,842.50 apiece on the BSE and NSE, respectively, a fall of nearly 10 per cent.

The sharp selloff dragged the domestic carrier's market capitalisation below the Rs 2 lakh crore mark. On the NSE, the company's market capitalisation (mcap) declined by Rs 17,884.76 crore to Rs 1,89,719.34 crore, while the mcap of InterGlobe Aviation dipped by Rs 17,179.24 crore to Rs 1,90,455.79 crore on the BSE.

InterGlobe Aviation's shares have been on a losing streak since November 28, when they closed at about Rs 5,901 apiece on bourses.

In the last seven sessions, the counter has nose-dived by nearly 17 per cent on the stock exchanges.


The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged by 609.68 points, or 0.71 per cent, to close at 85,102.69 while the broader NSE Nifty declined by 225.90 points, or 0.86 per cent, to settle at 25,960.55.

Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier IndiGo on Monday cancelled 562 flights from six metro airports, with 150 cancellations originating from Bengaluru airport alone, according to sources.

IndiGo, which has been facing heat from both the government and the passengers for cancelling hundreds of flights since December 2, citing regulatory changes in the pilots' new flight duty and regulations norms, which resulted in lakhs of passengers getting stuck at airports pan-India.

Meanwhile, Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu in the Rajya Sabha on Monday said that the government has initiated an inquiry into Indigo's mass flight cancellations and will take strict action against the operator to set an example for other airlines.

Blaming the airline for its failure to manage the crew and duty roster through its day-to-day operations, Naidu said, "We are not taking this situation lightly. We are doing an inquiry. We will take very, very strict action not only for this situation but also set an example".

In another development, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation-appointed panel investigating the flight disruptions at IndiGo is likely to summon the airline's CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras on Wednesday as part of the ongoing probe.

"The panel is likely to summon IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras on Wednesday as part of the ongoing probe into the disruption of the airline's flight services at such a scale," a source told PTI here.

IndiGo had last Friday, when it cancelled 1,600 flights of its total 2,300 daily flights, told DGCA that "the operational challenges mainly erupted due to revised phase-2 Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) and that it could adequately anticipated, crew planning and rostering preparedness were insufficient in widespread disruption".