Akasa Air To List Soon?The Airline Has Many Plans Ahead For The Decade (Image: X.com/AkasaAir)
The youngest of Indian airlines, Akasa Air has many plans ahead for the decade. Akasa could soon be seen flying international with added aircrafts. The airlines CEO has said that it is planning to list by the end of this decade. The airline would begin international services towards the last of this fiscal year and has also placed an order for 76 Boeing 737 MAX aero planes.
The airlines, which is just 14 months old, has an operational capacity of above 750 flights weekly, at over 16 domestic ports which includes Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, is now on the look-out for “gathering a little more history,” before the launch of its Initial Public Offer (IPO), said the airline’s Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube, reported the Hindustan Times.
There is also a plan to begin services on international routes by the last of this fiscal year along with the induction of more air fleet, 76 Boeing 737 MAX aero planes, by the mid of the year 2027. Of now, the CEO said that, Akasa has 20 aircrafts and would be adding an order of three-digit aircraft by the end of this year, 2023.
Vinay Dube, the Founder and CEO of Akasa said that the airline already has a free cash generation from its working operations and is well equipped with funds for the new order to be placed.
In an interview, the CEO, talked about the airline’s mid-term goals. He said that the timeframe for inducting the expected 76 airlines would be mid of 2027 and that the goal of the airline is to become a pan Indian airline with could boast of a very healthy domestic as well as international network and multiple bases.
On the listing, he said, “I don”t think 2027 will be possible for a listing, but the listing is something that we definitely want to do. We may have to gather a little more history before we can list. Certainly, listing or an IPO is something that we would desire”. He said that the end of the decade was a “much more realistic goal” for going public.
As of now, IndiGo and SpiceJet have gone public. The Jet Airways which is not flying anymore since April 2019, was listed and Go First, now grounded had attempted listing, which did not spark off.
Akasa has now received flying rights on international routes and would be starting operations soon for these countries – Riyadh and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar) and Kuwait.
“We are in growth mode. We should have two more aircraft delivered before the end of this calendar year. We will exit the financial year with 25 aircraft. We will exit the following financial year with approximately 40 aircraft,” the CEO said. Along with this he added that the rumours of the Jhunjhunwala family exiting are “absurd,” an that “the family says that they are invested with us for the long run.”
The airlines has a market share of of 4.2 percent and has flown 5.17 lakh passengers, says latest official data. In addition to the already mentioned 72 aircraft of Boeing, the airlines had placed an order for four Boeing 737-8 jets too, in June this year. Thus in total, the airlines would have 76 aircraft, which would include the 23 Boeing 737-8s, along with 53 Boeing 737-8-200s, by the middle of year 2027.
Recently, Akasa had underwent a troubled phase with almost 40 pilots exiting without serving the notice period, which led to may cancellations and legal issues.
