'EaseMyTrip to reduce dependence on air ticketing biz, sets sights on hotels', says MD Prashant Pitti

Online travel aggregator EaseMyTrip is eyeing to expand its non-air business to boost profitability in the next fiscal year (2026). During the Quarter 3 earnings of Easy Trip Planners Ltd's MD Prashant Pitti said the travel firm has shifted its focus to growing the hotel business from the airline.

Prashant told investors that, "At the time of listing, 97 percent of our business was flight business and now that number has come to about 86 percent. So clearly, the results are heading in the right direction. And you will continue to see our efforts for non-air business are getting to more fruition which will lead to much more profitability in the future".

"Looking ahead, we remain focused on scaling our business profitably, expanding our non-air verticals, and also strengthening our international operations," he added.

EaseMyTrip has targeted that 75 percent of the company's business to come from flight and 25 percent from all other sectors in FY26.

Prashant's statement on reducing airline business is in contrast to the rumours around promoter/company interest in beleaguered airline GoAir.

Prashant clarified saying, "We are trying to see if basically, we can revive GoAir again. There is a lot of value in GoAir. And however, this is a very, very private move by Nishant Pitti, who is also a cofounder of EaseMyTrip".

Last week, EaseMyTrip announced its Q3 result, reporting a 25 percent decline in its net profit to Rs 34 crore year-on-year. The operating revenue reduced by 6.3 percent to Rs 150 crore in Q3FY25. The air ticketing business accounted for 65 percent of the total revenue while the hotel business amounted to 22 percent.

"We agree growth would have been much better had we increased our discount. From last quarter, we reduced from 3.8 percent to 3 percent. Had we increased our -- or had we kept our discount to 3.8 percent, we would have seen at least a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in our GBR. But again, as a company that has been bootstrapped ever since. Only, last year ago, we raised some capital. We really, really care about profitability," Prashant added.