Latest news with #VinayDube
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Turning 3, Akasa hopeful of getting planes on time as Boeing ‘returns to historic production strength'
NEW DELHI: Having seen serious delays from Boeing, India's youngest airline Akasa — which turned three on Thursday — is now hopeful the embattled US aerospace major will step up aircraft deliveries going ahead. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Describing the relation with Boeing as ' strong and collaborative,' Akasa founder & CEO Vinay Dube said in a mail to employees Thursday: 'The manufacturer is steadily returning to its historic production strength, and we remain in close and constant dialogue with them. We are confident of receiving our planned aircraft deliveries on time this year, which will support our ambitious expansion plans.' With Trump administration imposing 50% tariffs on India, desi airlines that have ordered Boeing planes including Air India group and Akasa are keeping their fingers crossed that the current state of India-US trade ties does not affect their deliveries. Akasa, which started flying on Aug 7, 2022, has 226 Boeing 737 MAX on order and has so far got 30 of them. Delayed deliveries from Boeing over the last two years have meant that many of its 775 pilots have very little or no flying to do. There has been serious heartburn among pilots over this issue. While Akasa has been assuring to resolve this issue for a while now, not getting planes from Boeing at the promised pace has meant the same remains. Addressing this, Dube said in his Thursday mail: 'At Akasa, we are deeply committed to nurturing long-term, fulfilling careers for our pilots. Over the past 1.5 years, we have seen 31 command upgrades, with 40 more tracking positively this year. We have strengthened our instructor and examiner pool and secured a new B737 MAX simulator in Bengaluru, making us the only airline in India to train across three MAX simulators. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Growth is across departments; we released 48 internal job postings this year, ensuring every Akasian has the opportunity to take charge of their career.' The airline has over 4,700 employees. With its 30 planes operating 150 daily flight, the airline has over 5% domestic market share as per DGCA data, and it currently has a network of 28 destinations, including five international ones. 'Over the last year, we have welcomed 80 lakh more passengers, growing from 1.1 crore in August 2024 to 1.9 crore by August 2025. That's about 73% increase in passenger growth in just 12 months, a remarkable milestone by any industry standard. It speaks of the growing trust our customers place in us, the strength of our network, and the consistency with which our teams deliver the Akasa experience,' Dube's mail says. This Jan, Akasa had appointed co-founder Belson Coutinho as COO. About him, Dube said: 'Having worked closely with operational teams across functions, Belson brings a rare blend of brand thinking, operational insight, and a deep passion for technology, service, and people. His strong alignment with Akasa's values and sharp focus on cost leadership position him well to elevate our operational excellence in the years ahead. ' The airline will start flights from both Navi Mumbai and Greater Noida airports that will open in a few months. 'We are expanding our presence in Delhi as more slots become available, which will be a significant driver of growth for both our domestic and international operations. We are thrilled to begin operations from Navi Mumbai International Airport and Noida International Airport (Jewar) this year. These will be pivotal to expanding access and giving us a strategic edge,' Dube said. International expansion will 'continue to be a core strategic pillar. Over the next year, we are targeting a meaningful increase in international routes, aiming to increase international ASKs from 18% to 40% in the next few years,' he added. The airline recently secured over $125 million in fresh capital from investors, including Premji Invest, Claypond Capital, 360 ONE Asset, and the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's family. Dube's mail adds: 'We are doing all of this (expansion) while staying financially prudent and operationally grounded. We are building a business that can weather volatility and thrive through it, not just despite our challenges, but because of how we respond to them. ' Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays.
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Akasa Air completes 3 yrs of flying; plans flights to SAARC, Asean regions
Three-year-old Akasa Air on Thursday said it will start flights to the SAARC and Asean regions in the next few years, in addition to leveraging the upcoming Navi Mumbai and Noida International Airports to develop a comprehensive network. Akasa Air, which commenced operations on August 7, 2022, expects to have more than 30 planes in its fleet by the end of this year and aims for a capacity growth of over 30 per cent in terms of Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) for the current fiscal ending March 2026. Currently, the carrier has 30 aircraft. "The airline will expand its presence in key markets such as Delhi and will leverage the upcoming Navi Mumbai and Noida International Airports to build a comprehensive network. Akasa Air will expand its global footprint with a foray into new regions, including SAARC and ASEAN, over the next few years," the carrier said in a release on Thursday. Eight countries, including India, are part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Other countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises 10 countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia. Currently, the airline flies to five overseas destinations -- Doha (Qatar), Jeddah, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Kuwait City (Kuwait). It operates flights to 23 domestic cities. "In just 36 months, Akasa Air has served over 19 million passengers, with a significant leap of 8 million passengers in just the last 12 months and continues to register industry-leading load factors of over 87 per cent," the release said. Last financial year, the airline recorded a 49 per cent increase in revenue year-over-year and capacity in terms of ASK grew 48 per cent annually. Akasa Air Founder and CEO Vinay Dube said it remains firmly anchored to its long-term vision of being among the top 30 airlines globally by the end of this decade. (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.)
Skift
11-06-2025
- Business
- Skift
How Mumbai's New Airport Could Help Lift India's Aviation Profile
India's booming aviation sector is set to get a major lift from two secondary airports in Delhi and Mumbai. While the projects signal India's evolution into a global transit hub, smart pricing will be crucial to drive traffic. Gearing up for the launch of the new airport in Mumbai, operator Adani Airport Holdings has partnered with low-cost carrier Akasa Air to commence flight operations. Under the agreement, Akasa will operate over 100 weekly domestic departures to begin with from the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). The airline plans to scale this up to over 300 domestic and more than 50 international flights a week in the weekly schedule. In a statement, Akasa said that it will focus on international expansion into key Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian markets. Akasa Founder and CEO Vinay Dube said, 'No airline in India will have a larger percentage of its fleet and operations based out of NMIA than Akasa Air.' This partnership came a few days after budget airline IndiGo became the first airline to sign an agreement to operate flights from it. The airport is also key to IndiGo's international network as CEO Pieter Elbers said earlier this month that the Navi Mumbai airport will connect to 14 international destinations at launch. The Navi Mumbai Project: The Navi Mumbai International Airport project is being developed for $2 billion and is expected to ease congestion at the current Mumbai airport. The aim is to position Mumbai as a global transit hub. The airport's opening has now been pushed from May this year to August. Similar to Delhi, there are also plans to develop an aerocity around the Navi Mumbai airport to drive up non-aeronautic revenues. India is now the world's third-largest aviation market, a milestone that has been highlighted in a new report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The aviation industry is counting on this airport in Mumbai, along with the upcoming Jewar airport in Delhi, to help cater to the growing demand for air travel in the country. In his address at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting earlier this month, Director General Willie Walsh said that infrastructure development is important for growth of aviation, adding that upcoming secondary airports in Delhi and Mumbai are a positive development. Bringing Traffic to Navi Mumbai: Adani has also requested the government to make passenger and airline tariffs at both Navi Mumbai and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport uniform. If approved, the move is expected to increase traffic flow at the new airport. Navi Mumbai airport was expected to have notably higher passenger fees, landing and parking charges, which could discourage airlines from shifting to the new airport. However, this unification could also drive up tariffs at the existing Mumbai airport due to averaging of fees. This would follow the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India move last month to increase the user development fee for domestic passengers from 120 per passenger to 175 at the operational Mumbai airport. Higher airport charges are an issue that IATA has been vocal about. Walsh said that airlines want airports to operate efficiently at a cost-effective price, and urged dialogue between airlines and airports. Katrina Kaif New Global Tourism Ambassador of Maldives Maldives has appointed Bollywood actor Katrnia Kaif as the global tourism ambassador. The move is expected to boost tourism from India as diplomatic relations are easing between the two countries. Maldives is the latest in a series of companies hiring Bollywood actors as ambassadors to attract Indian tourists. In a recent feature, Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia noted that Bollywood has become an economic force in the global tourism industry. Hilton has partnered with actors Deepika Padukone and Sidharth Malhotra as ambassadors. Just the announcement of Deepika Padukone garnered over 1.3 million organic social engagements and generated more than 30 million impressions last year for Hilton, Skift noted. According to Manish Tolani, VP and commercial director, South Asia, Hilton, the partnership with Padukone helped the hotel company 'win new fans and draw our brands ever closer to Indian customers.' In 2023, Accor partnered with Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif to star in its latest campaign of ALL-Accor Live Limitless, the hotel brand's lifestyle loyalty program. Air India Expands Self Check-In, Baggage Drop Facilities Full-service airline Air India has expanded its integrated self-check-in and baggage-drop service. The move will allow passengers flying from India to all destinations operated by the airline in Europe, the UK, and Canada to avail this facility. The airline already allows this facility for passengers flying to the U.S. and Australia. With this development, the facility now extends to a total of 19 airports, including London Heathrow and Gatwick, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Birmingham, Milan, Zurich, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, Newark, Washington, San Francisco, Sydney, and Melbourne. Using the self check-in and baggage drop facility, passengers will have the opportunity for faster check-in using kiosks for printing boarding passes and baggage tags before dropping their own bags in the baggage drop machines. While these machines do eliminate the need to stand in check-in queues, my experience at these machines twice has required help from airport ground staff to get through the baggage drop process. Puducherry Rolls Out Caravan Tourism Puducherry tourism department has formed a policy to support caravan tourism. The beach destination has brought camper vans and caravans under a formal tax structure, and its initiative also facilitates issuing permits not only for such vehicles registered in Puducherry, but those from other states as well. This move will allow travelers to hire camper vans or caravans for travel across the state. Puducherry has launched the tax system for 3, 7, and 30 days. The state is expecting the move to boost tourism as road-based and adventure travel segments are rising in the country. Akasa Air Gets 29th Aircraft in Fleet Low-cost airline Akasa Air on Monday inducted a Boeing 737 Max from Seattle into its fleet. With this addition, the airline's fleet has expanded to 29 aircraft within less than three years of operations. The company is expanding its network rapidly, with operations to 23 Indian and five international destinations. To support this expansion, the airline placed orders totalling 226 Boeing 737 Max planes. Of these, 150 jets were ordered last January, and the airline is expecting delivery till 2032. IHG Signs Holiday Inn Hotel in Ahmedabad IHG Hotels and Resorts has signed a new Holiday Inn-branded hotel in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The 150-room hotel is expected to open in 2028. The property will be a part of the Highline mixed-use residential and commercial development. According to IHG, the signing is a part of the company's strategy of expanding in high-potential markets across India. 'Ahmedabad has emerged as a key destination with robust demand across industrial, commercial, and educational sectors,' said Sudeep Jain, managing director, South West Asia at IHG. He added that India continues to be a priority market for the company across the world.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Akasa: On Terra Firma
To say that the Indian aviation market is undergoing a transformative churn is an understatement. Every player in the sector is undergoing a metamorphosis. While Air India is running a little behind schedule in its proposed phase of taking a leadership position (expected between April, 2024 and March, 2027), IndiGo is shedding its original skin to emerge as a full-service international player on a global stage. Air India's low fare wing (the merged entity that has emerged from Air India Express and AirAsia India) is rejigging and transforming itself into a full- blown Indigo in its original avatar while SpiceJet is struggling to stay afloat in a market full of uncertainties. It is therefore of some consolation to the sector that at least one player is an outlier: Akasa, the airline that surprised most by the timing of its launch in August 2022 - when the rest of the players were yet to emerge from the shadows of the 2020 global pandemic. It was in the midst of the 2020 pandemic and armed with many learnings after his two stints with Indian carriers - Jet Airways and Go First, Vinay Dube, the CEO of Akasa Airlines, began to write a business case of what would become Akasa in the future. The airline's official founding day was in November 2020, smack in the middle of one of the biggest crisis faced by airlines globally. At the time of writing this piece, the airline was awaiting final clearances to accept fresh funding and new board members. The amount or the names of investors have not been disclosed yet. Reports say the investment could be around US $100 million from a few new and long-term investors, of which a ₹300 crore investment is expected from Premji Invest, Claypond Capital (Ranjan Pai's family office) and 360 ONE Asset. Further funds infusion will come in through a doubling of the initial investment made by the original owners Jhunjhuwalas through the family trust while keeping their holding below 51%. The good, the weak and the uncertain: Here's a look at Akasa's opportunities and challenges. The Good: On Firmer Ground Akasa took flight in an industry that had witnessed a spate of bad news including the grounding of Jet Airways in 2019, amid a battering of the entire industry because of the pandemic. As a result, the Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-funded Akasa Air grabbed attention even before it took flight amid questions about its progress and future. If the founders hold a rear-view mirror before them, they would be justified to wonder whether this is the same market they entered. From the time of inception of the airline to now, a lot has changed both on the ground and in the air. One of its primary funders with deep pockets, the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed and was no longer available to support it; one of its direct rivals Go First declared bankruptcy and ceased operations while another rival SpiceJet curtailed them. A third rival AirAsia India has since merged with Air India Express. Besides these, the Indian market has shed the gloom cast by the pandemic and Indians are traveling with a vengeance. Oil prices - one of the biggest party poopers - have been giving airlines a breather and the rupee is standing its ground to some extent. The future is looking rosier than the past has proved to be. To the airline's advantage and credit, the fact that it started without any of the pandemic baggage afflicting others helped it set the fastest pace of growth in a highly competitive scenario. But a lot of what has gone right for Akasa in the last three years is also of its own making. In an era of low aircraft availability, it has over 200 aircraft on order, a 75- B737 Max aircraft order in October 2021 followed by a 150 aircraft order in January 2020. Not only does it enjoy the cushion of its big order, its aircraft induction has been on track, swift and consistent, with its total fleet at nearly 30 in three years, no mean achievement since it makes it one of the first airlines globally to achieve this milestone. Compare for instance Akasa's 20 planes in its first year with IndiGo's 12. Other airlines in India like Go First and AirAsia India took so long to reach the same milestones that it renders a comparison superfluous. Aircraft utilisation, an important metric, too has climbed from 11 to 12 hours, according to people aware of the matter, although still behind IndiGo's 14 (with a far bigger fleet) and lower than desirable. Airline founder and CEO Vinay Dube however maintained that it was the 'best in class'. Moreover, the airline's route selection, if not ideal, has been better than most. It has not spread itself too thin with its 29 aircraft flying over 900 weekly flights with 22 domestic destinations and five international ones. It has taken a leaf out of IndiGo's book by getting into a market, increasing frequencies to get to number two or three in this aspect and connecting the dots within the network rather than opening new stations. Several players in India's aviation landscape have made a hash of this aspect in the past, failing to understand the nuts and bolts of a network strategy despite having experience. The airline's frequencies on some of the major routes (Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Bengaluru) however remain quite low, which industry insiders argue is a weak spot but is justified by the airline on the grounds that slots are not easily available. Akasa also offers a no-frills, efficient service on board with clean and new aircraft. Its on-time performance has been good and the passenger load factors which were expectedly low in the first couple of months have picked up enough for it not to have to discount its fares. The casual dress for crew (sneakers as opposed to heels, to make their life more comfortable) resonates well with the younger fliers, with many choosing Akasa as the more 'hip, with it' airline than the comparatively stodgy Air India. Many other parametres seem to be in its favour. The airline has been consistently reporting high loads with its latest numbers at 92-93% in April, having overtaken SpiceJet and Indigo, which are both in their mid -80s. Cancellations are amongst the lowest as are complaints. A quick comparison with closest rival SpiceJet on two parametres is quite revealing. Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on passengers affected due to cancellations in April is 42 for Akasa against 4709 for SpiceJet. Further, a total of 8386 Akasa passengers were affected by delays beyond two hours in the month compared with SpiceJet's 23189. The airline has also done well on its on-time performance, despite having a small fleet in the beginning (deployment of alternate aircraft is harder with a smaller fleet). Now with almost 30 aircraft, the airline's on-time performance at the 6 metros at 77.5% is second to IndiGo's 80% but higher than Air India's 74% and far higher than SpiceJet's 60%. Again, taking a leaf out of IndiGo's books, the management of the airline has kept a low profile and focussed on getting the business in order unlike several players where the founders have been more focused on publicity. Keeping its head down has helped Akasa command a bigger market share today than SpiceJet, an airline that has been around since 2005, as per the latest data. Another aspect of the business that Dube highlighted as a strength is its distributed ownership with no one investor enjoying majority control and hence its strong board-run character, a matter of concern in many of the airline players in the past and some even today. Coupled with its team, which primarily comprises airline professionals with plenty of collective experience, he thinks they are set for a long and successful innings in a market that can easily support three IndiGos. The Not So Good But the question the industry is asking is that if the loads are high and if the environment is as favourable as it has been (closure of Go First, whittling down of SpiceJet, low oil prices, stronger rupee and robust traffic) where players like Indigo are making huge profits (FY 2025 profit for the airline was over ₹7,000 crore and FY 2026 is expected to be higher still) and even Air India claims to have made a small operating profit (FY25), why is Akasa making losses as high as it is. Losses in the airline remain high at ₹1,670 crore for FY 2024, with a revenue of just over ₹3,100 crore. Dube argued that losses are in line with their expectations and that the foundational year of any airline is dedicated to investing in its people, fleet, training, operating infrastructure and network and hence no airline registers profits in these years. While this may be true to an extent, it remains a fact that market leader IndiGo was profitable just after its first two years of operation. A former AirAsia India source says that back in 2019, after the demise of Jet Airways and when the overall environment was quite favourable, the airline did pull off operational profits in a few quarters. This despite all the bloopers the airline had made in its initial years and having a smaller fleet than what Akasa has at present. 'If the airline is not able to break even and turn in a small profit in this environment, it needs to look keenly at what it is not doing right,' said a former CFO of SpiceJet. Moreover, he pointed out that it takes very little for losses to add up quickly as there is perhaps no sector as susceptible to every kind of externality and many variables remain out of the airlines' control. A second red flag raised by sector analysts and experts is something they have raised since the start : that the airline seems top heavy. Again, while comparisons with IndiGo might not be completely fair, they are cited as the market leader started with a very lean team and remained so till it went public. An Increasingly Uncertain World But there's no denying the fact that from a passenger point of view, Akasa's survival and well-being is far more significant today than when it launched since the total numbers of players have shrunk and all the negative repercussions of a duopoly stare the flying public in its face. The future nonetheless remains full of uncertainties and depends almost entirely on the players own handling, as Dube agreed, adding that as the past has also shown us the fate of airlines in India is primarily in their own hands and very little to do with government actions or policy. Industry sources argue that while currently Akasa is considered 'too small to matter' but one of the worries in the future could be predatory pricing and other hurtful business tactics which any small fish in a big pond can expect. 'Competition in the form of a minor irritant is often welcomed by the biggies. We will have to see what happens when Akasa reaches a sizable number of planes for the bigger players to notice it,' said a former DGCA official. He pointed out that competition can be aggressive even for talent within the industry and that Akasa had already 'shot itself in the foot once' when it decided to take its own pilots to court in 2023. Although Akasa seems to have weathered its 2023 storm with crew, it has to make sure it doesn't ruffle any more feathers. While Dube maintained that they are well positioned with regard to their future crew requirements, the airline's ability to attract and retain talent with the formidable duopoly of Tatas and IndiGo remains under cloud. Airline industry sources said that the airline has struggled to attract and recruit commanders and crew from almost the word go but after IndiGo started rehiring and Tata's have started luring crew, their struggle deepened. It has however set up its own learning academies in Gurugram and Bengaluru, where it trains 750 employees every month. So even as the Akasa team buckles up and looks ahead to its next phase, being nimble, displaying maturity in handling crew and passengers and keeping its ears and eyes open will hold it in good stead. Anjuli Bhargava writes about governance, infrastructure and the social sector. The views expressed are personal.
Hindustan Times
07-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
After IndiGo, Akasa announces flights from NMIA
Mumbai: Akasa Air, on Friday, announced its partnership with Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), and is set to begin commercial flight operations from the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). This decision follows a week after IndiGo's announcement to launch flights from NMIA. Initially, the airline will operate over 100 domestic departures per week and will increase the number to over 300 domestic departures and over 50 international departures per week in the winters. In an attempt to broaden its network, the airline is also set to increase its parking capacity to 10 bases by the end of financial year 2027. Their focus is on international expansion into key Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian markets. Vinay Dube, founder and CEO, Akasa Air said, 'Our foray into NMIA is a strategic step aligned with Akasa Air's long-term vision to build a future-ready airline that is responsive to the evolving needs of Indian travellers.' Dube added that compared to other airlines, Akasa Air plans to have the largest share of its fleet at NMIA. 'Enhanced connectivity from Navi Mumbai will not only strengthen our network in the western region but also help fuel India's economic engine by improving connectivity, stimulating regional development, and ensuring that the benefits of aviation-led growth reach every corner of the country,' said Dube.
