Latest news with #AkasaAir
Time of India
a minute ago
- Business
- Time of India
We prefer to have idle pilots than grounded planes: Akasa CFO on losses, funding hiccups, Boeing
Akasa Air, which started in 2021 when the world was still reeling from Covid-19, is now a 30-plane airline controlling 5% of the domestic market share. It has, however, traversed this journey with some hiccups including related to excessive pilot hiring, international handicaps, heavy losses and slowed expansion last year besides dealing with delays in funding from Wipro's Azim Premji and a clutch of other investors. Akasa's CFO Ankur Goel took
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Business Standard
7 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
No issues found in fuel switches in its Boeing 737 MAX planes: Akasa Air
Akasa Air has completed the checks on the fuel switches of its Boeing 737 MAX planes and there were no adverse findings, a senior airline executive said on Tuesday. The airline has a fleet of 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. A total of 196 such aircraft are to be delivered to the carrier in the coming years. Last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes by July 21. The direction came after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said in its preliminary report that fuel switches were cut off before the Air India plane crash last month. Akasa Air's Chief Financial Officer Ankur Goel said the airline complies with whatever requirements that continue to come either from Boeing as a manufacturer or from the DGCA as a safety regulator. "The inspection has been done. We have reported our findings to the DGCA. Very happy to say that no adverse findings found on the switches at all," he told PTI. He was responding to a query about the findings of the inspection of the fuel switches. Fuel control switches regulate the flow of fuel into the aircraft engines. Earlier in the day, Air India said it has completed "precautionary" inspection of the locking mechanism of the fuel control switch (FCS) on its Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft fleet and no issues were found. Air India has a total of 33 wide-body Boeing 787s and Air India Express has around 75 narrow-body 737s. There are more than 150 Boeing 737s and 787s being operated by Indian airlines. Akasa Air and SpiceJet operate Boeing 737s. IndiGo also operates Boeing 787 and 737s, but they are leased from foreign airlines, which means they won't be subject to the DGCA directive. On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 plane operating the flight AI 171 enroute to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad crashed into a building soon after take off, killing 260 people, including 19 on the ground. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Akasa Air says no issues found in fuel switches in its Boeing 737 MAX planes
Akasa Air has completed the checks on the fuel switches of its Boeing 737 MAX planes and there were no adverse findings, a senior airline executive said on Tuesday. The airline has a fleet of 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. A total of 196 such aircraft are to be delivered to the carrier in the coming years. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Degree healthcare Management Data Analytics MCA Data Science Healthcare Product Management PGDM Public Policy Cybersecurity others Data Science Design Thinking MBA CXO Others Project Management Artificial Intelligence Leadership Finance Operations Management Technology Digital Marketing Skills you'll gain: Data-Driven Decision-Making Strategic Leadership and Transformation Global Business Acumen Comprehensive Business Expertise Duration: 2 Years University of Western Australia UWA Global MBA Starts on Jun 28, 2024 Get Details Last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes by July 21. The direction came after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said in its preliminary report that fuel switches were cut off before the Air India plane crash last month. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Senior Living Homes in Dhaka May Surprise You Senior Living | Search Ads Undo Akasa Air's Chief Financial Officer Ankur Goel said the airline complies with whatever requirements that continue to come either from Boeing as a manufacturer or from the DGCA as a safety regulator. "The inspection has been done. We have reported our findings to the DGCA. Very happy to say that no adverse findings found on the switches at all," he told PTI. Live Events He was responding to a query about the findings of the inspection of the fuel switches. Fuel control switches regulate the flow of fuel into the aircraft engines. Earlier in the day, Air India said it has completed "precautionary" inspection of the locking mechanism of the fuel control switch (FCS) on its Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft fleet and no issues were found. Air India has a total of 33 wide-body Boeing 787s and Air India Express has around 75 narrow-body 737s. There are more than 150 Boeing 737s and 787s being operated by Indian airlines. Akasa Air and SpiceJet operate Boeing 737s. IndiGo also operates Boeing 787 and 737s, but they are leased from foreign airlines, which means they won't be subject to the DGCA directive. On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 plane operating the flight AI 171 enroute to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad crashed into a building soon after take off, killing 260 people, including 19 on the ground.
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Akasa Air expects 25-30% growth in fleet every year to become 226-aircraft strong in 2032; operational profitability likely ‘very soon'
Akasa Air expects its aircraft and seat capacity to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25-30 per cent over the over the next seven years as the airline expects to have a 226-aircraft fleet by 2032, up from its current strength of 30 Boeing 737 MAX family aircraft, according to the airline's chief financial officer Ankur Goel. With robust growth in capacity and the airline's 'steadfast focus on cost leadership', the three-year-old carrier is well on its path to profitability, Goel told reporters on Tuesday. The airline—India's youngest major carrier—had ordered a total of 226 Boeing 737 MAX family aircraft, all of which are expected to be delivered by 2032, which comes out to 28 aircraft per year on average. Goel, however, said that the aircraft deliveries will vary over the years, with fewer deliveries likely over the next two-three years, after which they are expected to pick up significantly. Goel added that Akasa Air is in regular touch with Boeing and all signals are that the aircraft are expected to be delivered sooner than earlier anticipated, which gives the airline confidence that its aircraft order will be fulfilled by 2032. Boeing has had issues with aircraft deliveries due to various crises and regulatory oversight, but Goel said that most of Boeing's issues now seem 'to be behind them'. The airline currently has 23 Boeing 737-8 aircraft, which have 185-189 seats apiece, and seven 737-8-200 jets that can seat 197 passengers. Akasa Air also has some 737-10 aircraft—which will have 227 seats—on order, and their deliveries are likely to start from 2027. Akasa Air's revenue in 2024-25 (FY25) grew 49 per cent year-on-year, while capacity in terms of available seat kilometres (ASK) grew at a 48 per cent, Goel said, without giving specific numbers. In FY26, the airline expects its capacity in terms of ASKs to growth by 30 per cent. The airline's stage-adjusted revenue per ASK (RASK) improved by 13 per cent in FY25, while cost per ASK (CASK) was down 8 per cent, leading to unit margins improving by over 20 per cent year-on-year. Operating margin improved by half on a year-on-year basis. While the airline is still not profitable, Goel said that the trajectory of revenue growth and cost reduction on a per unit basis means that it will be operationally profitable 'very soon', but refrained from giving any specific timeline. He said that currently, the rapid capacity growth and the consequent cost increase at the company level is offsetting the improvement in revenue as well as the unit cost levels. He expects the equation to change soon as revenue and cost dynamics continue to improve significantly. 'Akasa Air's financial performance reflects the strength of our business model and the disciplined execution of our strategy. We are optimistic about the future and are looking forward to building on the momentum of our robust financial and commercial performance in the years ahead. Akasa Air is on a deterministic path towards building the industry's best cost structure, and we are confident that we will continue to set new standards driven by our efficient planning, strategic expansion and promising potential of the nation's economy,' Goel said. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
Mint
9 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Akasa Air's financial performance in FY25 improves, says CFO Ankur Goel
India's third largest airline in terms of market share, Akasa Air's financial performance in FY25 improved as per the airline's chief financial officer (CFO) Ankur Goel, with a revenue growth of 49% year-on-year (y-o-y). Akasa also registered a 48% y-o-y jump in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK)—the passenger-carrying capacity of an airline. Its fleet grew 50% to a current fleet strength of 30 aircraft, all from the Boeing MAX 737 family. Akasa's Available Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer (RASK) stood at 13%. On the other hand the Cost per Available Seat Kilometer (CASK) was under 10%. RASK is a metric to measure how much revenue and airline makes per seat. CASK is the cost of operating one seat. "Our CASK stood at 8% including fuel expenses, the margins have become significantly better and our Ebitda margins for the last fiscal year is actually 50% better compared to FY24. As a new airline it will take us time to become operationally profitable and we are on the right path," said Goel. Ebitda, a measure of profitability, stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Akasa's CFO further said that RASK will continue to improve and costs are expected to go down. "In the first seven months of this year and first four months of the current fiscal, we are seeing y-o-y improvement in RASK and are seeing a cost reduction. The current situation is better than what we had projected at the beginning of the year," said Goel. Akasa Air since its inception has placed orders for Boeing 737 MAX family aircraft three times. Initially the airline placed an order for 72 aircraft in 2021 with a follow-up order of 4 aircraft in 2023. In 2024 the airline placed a significantly bigger order of 150 aircraft, taking the total order book to 226 aircraft. The airline has received 30 aircraft while another 196 will be delivered by 2032. Goel is confident about the fleet induction and said that the airline enjoys a good relationship with Boeing. 'Boeing has been a very reliable and supportive partner. Let's not underestimate what Boeing has done for us; not many airlines in the world can induct 30 aircraft in a span of 2-3 years,' he said. He said that the airline is looking at a 'new Boeing'. "A lot of the issues are behind them, so…we are confident in terms of their ability to deliver. The conversation that we're having with Boeing these days is around how soon can we get our aircraft," said Goel. The airline is expected to induct more aircraft this year than anticipated earlier. "The plans that we had laid out for FY26, it seems that we may just end up with more aircraft than what we planned for at the beginning of the year. Our plan is to induct all aircraft by 2032 and we will be growing our fleet between 25-30% every year" added Goel. For the current year, Akasa expects to grow it's ASKs by over 30% and an upward trajectory in RASK. The airline is also planning to capitalize on the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport and Noida International Airport. Akasa also plans to increase its international operations from the current 16% to around 20-25% this year. Responding to Mint's question Goel said, 'Having more bilaterals is generally good and are working to get more especially for Middle East. But we are not constrained by these markets, our aircraft are capable of flying 6 hours…have a lot of flying opportunities—like to South East Asia.'
