Akasa Air (QP, Mumbai International) will launch its first flight from Mumbai International to Ahmedabad on August 7, to be operated 28x weekly, followed by a route linking Bengaluru International and Kochi International on August 13, also 28x weekly, the start-up revealed in a statement.
It will deploy the first of its sixty-seven B737 MAX jets, B737-8 VT-YAA (msn 62871), which was delivered last month and is one of five Akasa has sold and leased back from Griffin Global Asset Management. The delivery of a second Boeing aircraft is due to take place in the coming days.
“Akasa Air’s network strategy is focused on establishing a strong pan-India presence and providing linkages from metro to tier 2 and tier 3 cities across the country,” Praveen Iyer, co-founder and chief commercial officer, outlined in the statement dated July 22. “We will adopt a phased approach to support our network expansion plans, progressively connecting more cities as we add two aircraft to our fleet each month in our first year.”
Akasa Air secured its air operator’s certificate (AOC) from the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on July 7. It is aiming to differentiate itself from the competition, it said, by offering a “product which promises to be unlike anything experienced in the category thus far” with an “empathetic and youthful personality, employee-friendly culture, customer-service philosophy, and a tech-led approach.”
The ch-aviation capacities module shows that on Mumbai-Ahmedabad, the new player will compete with four other carriers - IndiGo Airlines currently operates the route 48x-weekly, Go First 27x-weekly, Vistara 21x weekly, and Air India 7x weekly. As for Bangalore-Kochi, it will compete with IndiGo’s 41x weekly and AirAsia India’s 35x weekly services.
