Akasa Air, India's newest airline, now provides service to ten locations throughout the nation. The airline, which has been in operation for a little more than three months, has steadily increased the number of cities and planes in its fleet. Visakhapatnam, in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, is the most recent addition to its route map.
Rapid Expansion
Visakhapatnam has been added as the tenth destination to Akasa Air's quickly growing network as the airline continues to establish its presence in the nation. Two times per day, beginning on December 10 and December 12, the airline would operate flights to the city from Bengaluru.
With the most recent addition, Akasa's route map now includes five metros and five tier-two cities.
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Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Akasa Air, said, “We are delighted to add Visakhapatnam to our expanding network as the fourth major destination in South India with twice daily Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam-Bengaluru. Visakhapatnam is a promising Tier II city and a key player in India’s growth story owing to its advantageous coastal location, real-estate boom, and industrial prospects. Strengthening our connectivity, we are pleased to add one more frequency each on the high-demand Bengaluru-Ahmedabad and the debut Bengaluru-Pune routes.”
Akasa: Bulk of its operations
The majority of Akasa's operations are firmly established in Bengaluru. With effect from December 17, it will increase connectivity between Bengaluru and Ahmedabad by introducing a third frequency.
Third-largest airline in Bengaluru
Ameya Joshi, an aviation analyst, notes that with its number of departures from Bengaluru, Akasa has already passed Air India, Go First, and SpiceJet. It will surpass Vistara to become the third-largest airline in Bengaluru in terms of departures once its Pune route begins in a few days, trailing only IndiGo and AirAsia India.
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24 daily non-stop flights
Akasa Air would provide 24 daily non-stop flights from Bengaluru to eight cities in December in addition to all the additional flights: Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Guwahati, Pune, and Visakhapatnam. Only Agartala in North East India lacks a direct flight to Bengaluru. Utilising a fleet expansion strategy that includes the addition of one new aircraft every two weeks, Akasa will, by mid-December, build a strong pan-India presence with a focus on connecting metro areas to tier two and three cities.
Overall delivery plan
Akasa Air has experienced issues with the global supply chain while not being as big as other well-known businesses in India. The airline stated that while the general timeline for delivery of its aircraft will not change, some of them will operate for a few months with fewer seats, which differs significantly from the usual ones.
It stated that certain of its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will only have 174 seats instead of 189 and that some seats may lack USB ports and have upholstery that is different from the existing purple theme.
While Akasa anticipates resolving the issue in the upcoming months, the capacity gap may make it difficult for it to freely switch planes if necessary.
