Jhunjhunwala's Akasa Air to take off from August 7; air ticket sales begin

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air will begin operations on August 7 with two daily flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad as ticket sales opened on Friday.

The management has kept the minimum one-way fare at ~3,948 on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. Currently, there are around 15 daily flights on the route. IndiGo, which operates six-seven daily flights, is offering seats at ~3,945 on two of these flights. Go First too dropped its one way fares to Rs 3951 signaling competition 

Akasa Air will connect four cities in its first phase of operations, with flights connecting Bengaluru and Kochi beginning on August 13 with two daily flights. This route has 11 daily flights at present.

On Friday evening IndiGo added its seventh frequency between Bengaluru and Kochi intensifying competition on the route.

“Akasa Air’s network strategy is focused on establishing a strong pan-Indian presence and providing linkages from metros to tier II and III cities across the country. 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,” Praveen Iyer, co-founder and chief commercial officer, Akasa Air, said in a statement. 

AIMING FOR THE SKIES

• To launch two daily flights for Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Bengaluru-Kochi routes
• Will offer 56 weekly flights within ten days of operations
• Air India, Go First, IndiGo, and Vistara operate 15 daily flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad
• AirAsia India, Alliance Air, and IndiGo operate more than 11 daily flights between Bengaluru and Kochi

The airline has secured two parking bays at Delhi airport and flights from Delhi are imminent, a source said.

Currently, Indian carriers have a fleet of 692 aircraft (including freighters and wide bodies) and operate 2,500-2,600 domestic flights daily. Industry players do not expect a head-on competition between market leader IndiGo and Akasa, given its limited scale.

Akasa Air, which is the first major airline to launch flights after Vistara, has 72 Boeing 737 Max aircraft on order. It aims to attract travellers with category-first product choices. The airline said its aircraft would offer softer seat cushions, spacious leg room, and USB port for each seat. Like other no-frills airlines, Akasa too will have buy-on-board meal service with food options such as pasta, Vietnamese rice rolls, fusion meals, and plant-based offers.

“We want to be a compassionate airline with a focus on being dependable, warm, efficient, and reliable,” Belson Coutinho, co-founder and chief marketing and experience officer, said.

Akasa Air received the regulatory nod to start operations earlier this month. The core team comprises co-founder and CEO Vinay Dube and IndiGo’s former president Aditya Ghosh.