Aviation stocks have gained as much as up to 20 percent this week amid several positive developments for the wider sector. For starters, even as domestic flight operations gain a steady pace, news reports now indicate that India may resume international flights as early as July. Additionally, market leader IndiGo posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. On top of it, Jet Airways has received interests from several bidders, raising hopes for a resolution of the defunct airline.

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On the NSE, the shares of Indigo and Jet Airways surged as much as 3.27 percent and 5 percent respectively. While SpiceJet climbed the most by 10 percent.

IndiGo shares surged 18.56 percent this week while SpiceJet jumped over 12 percent. Jet Airways gained the most, rising by over 20 percent in a week.

According to an India Today report, the top government officials have told the media house that the target to resume international flights in India is July.

Even before that, domestic airline companies have remained in focus after the government eased the lockdown restrictions and allowed domestic flights to resume operations.

These stocks have also risen on the back of better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

India's largest passenger air carrier IndiGo reported a net loss of Rs 870.8 crore in the March quarter 2020 due to weak operating performance. Last year, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 596 crore in the same period. Net revenue for the fourth quarter grew only 4.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 8,635 crore.

In the post-earnings conference call, CEO Ronojoy Dutta said that the suspension of all airline operations has impacted the operating performance. The airline is now taking various cash-conversion and cost-cutting measures to survive, he said.

Meanwhile, SpiceJet reported a 22 percent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 56.3 crore in the quarter ended March 2019 aided by Jet Airways fiasco. Revenue from operations grew 25.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,531.2 crore in March quarter.

"SpiceJet has posted a strong recovery in the last two quarters after suffering a loss of Rs 427.5 crore in the first two quarters due to a steep increase in fuel costs and sudden depreciation of the rupee. This recovery comes despite the unprecedented challenges we faced during Q4FY19 which saw the grounding of as many as 13 of our MAX planes," Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director said.

The Union government allowed the resumption of domestic flights from May 25.

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First Published:Jun 5, 2020 12:13 PM IST