Before the end of the year, the airline intends to place its next aircraft purchase.
India’s Akasa Air has had a strong start six months into business. With a passenger count that has surpassed one million and a market share that is rapidly nearing 3%, the airline appears to be on a stable growth path.
According to its CEO, Akasa intends to place a sizable order by the end of this year, one that will be in the three digits, to expand its reach into India and eventually worldwide markets.
Almost 100 planes will be part of the upcoming deal.
It was mentioned earlier this month that Akasa Air is negotiating with significant aircraft producers including Boeing and Airbus as it looks to place its upcoming aircraft purchase. According to the airline’s CEO Vinay Dube, the upcoming order will be “far larger than the present aircraft order we have put” and will be placed before the year is up. 72
737 MAX aircraft are part of Akasa’s first purchase with Boeing, and they will be delivered between now and 2027 over a period of several years. And while Dube has now provided some insight into the scale of Akasa’s next order, we still don’t know the precise number of planes that will be included in it. He said at a press conference:
“We’ll put a sizable order for airplanes by the end of the year. Even though I won’t say the number, the order will have three digits and be important.
One of the airlines with the fastest expansion is Akasa. The airline now has 18 aircraft in its fleet after receiving one new plane every 15 days. Also, according to Dube, the airline will hire 300 pilots over the course of the next year to support operations and will require at least 3,500 pilots over the course of the next ten years to support its expansion.
Greater affection for Bengaluru
It is plainly evident from a short glance at Akasa’s network map that the majority of its operations are headquartered in Bangalore. A total of 0.5 million people have been transported from Bengaluru by the airline, which accounts for 70% of all passengers transported across its network to date.
The airline currently runs 36 daily flights from the city. Since demand for air travel to and from Bengaluru has increased, the airline has greatly expanded its operations from the city, connecting it with daily flights to 12 locations all over the nation.
Now, Akasa trails reputable airlines like SpiceJet, Air India, and Go First as the third-largest carrier in Bangalore. Bangalore, according to Dube, was Akasa’s first home and is unique in many respects. The predicted growth will make it Bengaluru’s second-largest domestic airline by summertime.
report card for six months
After six months of operation, Akasa presently controls 2.8% of the domestic market in India. There are 14 domestic destinations served by its more than 700 flights each week, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Agartala, Goa, Vizag, Pune, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Varanasi. Despite continuing to concentrate on tier-2 and tier-three cities around the nation.
Akasa also has aspirations for global growth. This has been the case for many other airlines flying A320 or Boeing 737 aircraft, Akasa wants to start offering services to offshore areas once its fleet reaches 20 aircraft by the end of this year, possibly including the Middle East.
