Air India regional unit Alliance Air posted its first ever operating profit in the year immediately prior to the global pandemic hitting air travel demand.
In a social media post, the Indian regional carrier flags an operating profit of RS65 crore ($8.8 million) for the the year ending 31 March 2020 - which it says is its first profit since its inception.
A report in the Times of India, reposted by Alliance Air, cites the airline saying it would also have posted a profit at a net level but for new accounting standards which dragged it to a net loss of Rs201 crore for the year.
Alliance Air was established in the mid-1990s as a regional unit of Indian Airlines, which was ultimately merged with Air India. Alliance Air operates domestic flights as an Air India subsidiary using a fleet of ATR turboprops.
Airline Allied Services, the Air India unit which includes Alliance Air, is being moved to a new holding company and is not part of continued efforts to divest Air India.
The profit was achieved prior to the main impact of the coronavirus crisis. India suspended domestic flights on 25 March as part of efforts to counter the pandemic, before lifting restrictions two months later.
