There’s still some time before Akasa Air receives all 72 aircraft from its existing order, but the airline is already thinking of its next fleet development phase. In an interview, Akasa’s CEO revealed that another, even larger, airplane order is on the cards before the year ends. The carrier has received five Boeing 737 MAXs from Avolon in the last few weeks and wants to start international flights once it has 20 planes in its fleet.

Second aircraft order

Akasa Air has had a good run in its first six months of operations. With just two aircraft in its fleet in August 2022, it now has 17 Boeing 737 MAXs, of which five were recently acquired over the last few weeks from leasing firm Avolon.

While there are a few more years before Akasa receives all 737 MAXs from its existing orders, recent reports suggest that that carrier is already engaged in talks with Airbus and Boeing for its next order. Mint quotes Akasa CEO Vinay Dube as saying,

“The market is there and we cannot stop at the order that only gives us line of sight till March 2027. So, before the end of this year, we will place an order that will give us the line of sight till 2030s-plus. It is going to be much larger than the current aircraft order we have placed.”

Photo: Avolon

Fleet development plan

Most of Akasa’s current fleet has been acquired on lease. There are 55 more planes to come, with deliveries spread across the next four years. The airline has received an aircraft every two weeks and will have 18 by the end of this month, ahead of its target of 18 planes by March this year.

But while the initial fleet growth has been quickly, Akasa will slow things down a little and intends to have around 25-30 airplanes by FY24. Dube said this is intentional, and the airline will receive around 12-14 aircraft annually over the next few years. Mint quotes him as saying,

“You cannot start an airline with 500 aircraft, so we were cautious. We wanted to grow in a measured manner. The next aircraft order is going to be larger because we can handle higher growth levels beyond 2027. We are looking at just narrow-body aircraft.”

Photo: Akasa Air

Expansion

Akasa now has a presence in cities all across India, with a network that includes 14 destinations, namely, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Lucknow, Goa, Hyderabad, and Varanasi.

In December, Akasa Air’s market share was 2.3%, and its passenger load factor has been hovering in the 80s. The airline’s next big goal is to start international operations, for which it needs a fleet size of 20 aircraft, which will likely happen later this year.

The airline will probably start with popular routes in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but we’ll know about its offshore plans once it meets all fleet and regulatory requirements for such operations.

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Source: Mint