One of the most recent entrants in the crowded domestic airlines sector in India, Akasa Air, looks to add more number of aircraft this fiscal, according to the company’s chief executive officer, Vinay Dube.
In a recent interview, Dube told PTI, “We are in continuous discussions with Boeing for aircraft deliveries...” adding, “we can... but not giving guidance on how many” new aircraft would be added in the current fiscal year.
The carrier, in January of 2024, ordered 150 aircraft from Boeing. These included the 737 MAX 10 and 737 MAX 8-200 models. Four aircraft were inducted into its fleet this year.
Dube also commented on the financial position of the company. “Financially, we are ahead of our plans. The company is doing better than we anticipated and expected in our plan, which is very encouraging...,” he added.
The CEO also stressed that Akasa Air was a “well-capitalised airline” and would continue to be so.
Currently, Akasa Air has a market share of 4.5 per cent. With the latest merger of Vistara into the Air India brand, it, along with IndiGo, takes up more than 90 per cent of the market share.
Apart from being one of the two major players in the domestic market, IndiGo recently and aggressively launched more international routes. On Saturday, the carrier announced daily direct flights to Penang in Malaysia from Chennai.
Last week, IndiGo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation Ltd also announced that it would provide a USD 43 million loan to its unit, IndiGo IFSC, to acquire more aircraft. The same week also saw the aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), issuing a show-cause notice to Akasa Air on reported violations regarding the revision cycle of the operations manual, thereby possibly violating the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).
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“The DGCA has raised certain findings for which they have issued a notice for clarification from Akasa Air’s Flight Operations team. As always, we are working closely with the DGCA to clarify this issue and enhance our protocols as required by the regulator,” read the Akasa Air statement in response.
Akasa Air, as of date, operates a fleet of 26 aircraft with about 4,300 employees, which includes around 800 pilots.
