In this week’s episode of TOI Business Bytes, Vinay Dube the CEO of Akasa Air talks about the airline’s expansion plans and how it aims to offer the “most affordable airfares” in India. He also highlights Akasa Air’s plans to launch an international route by the end of this year.
Akasa Air: From low flight ticket prices to new routes & international expansion plans; details here
Watch the video above to know which international routes Akasa Air is likely to target with its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Vinay Dube also talks about the road ahead for Indian aviation and why he feels India is the “most exciting” market to be in over the next several years.
Asked about the category of travellers Akasa Air is aiming to cater to, Dube says that while the airline wants to offer an alternative to luxury bus and AC train passengers, it would also strive to get business class passengers.
Dube sees India as a factory of pilots with high skill sets. He also emphasises the need for the right management, strategy and cost structures to make an airline profitable.
In the video above, the Akasa Air CEO commends the government’s initiative to expand airport infrastructure throughout the country with several new airports opening and the existing major airports seeing capacity expansion. He believes that airport capacity will be marginally behind the growing demand for air travel in India.
At present, Akasa Air’s network destinations include cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Bagdogra etc. The airline operates on 36 routes with over 900 weekly flights.