Indian airline Akasa targets 30% capacity growth, weighs government credit scheme (updated)

Interglobe Aviation

Tue 08:53

Akasa targets 30% capacity growth in current fiscal year
Airline mulls government credit scheme amid fuel volatility
Akasa gives no Boeing delivery forecast after earlier delays
Updates with CFO comment on government programme, international expansion in paragraph 7
By Abhijith Ganapavaram

    NEW DELHI, June 23 (Reuters) - India's third-largest airline, Akasa Air, is targeting a 30% capacity increase in the fiscal year to March 2027 and is evaluating whether to tap the government's emergency credit guarantee scheme, its finance chief said on Tuesday.
The airline also said its operating revenue rose 37% in the year ended March 31, with capacity, measured in available seat kilometers, up 30%, without specifying exact numbers. In the previous year, the airline reported revenues of 45.83 billion rupees ($483.39 million) and a net loss of $209.16 million.
Akasa, which launched in 2022 and has a 5.8% share of India's domestic aviation market dominated by IndiGo INGL.NS and Air India, operates a fleet of 39 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and like other carriers has faced delivery delays from the U.S. planemaker.
It offered no forecast for Boeing deliveries beyond a general capacity target for the current year, but Reuters reported last year that Akasa had internally expected to have roughly 54 aircraft by October 2026.
Chief Financial Officer Ankur Goel told reporters the airline was weighing participation in the government scheme offering 181 billion rupees ($1.9 billion) in credit guarantees to help businesses and airlines tide over short-term liquidity mismatches arising from the Iran war. 
"We have not drawn any funds from the ... scheme as of now, but this is something we continue to work with the banks on and continue to work with the (Indian aviation) ministry," he said.
Goel also said that international operations accounted for 25% of Akasa's capacity in the past fiscal year and that share could rise to 40% over the next few years as it expands further.

($1 = 94.8100 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Abhijith Ganaparavam; Writing by Kashish Tandon; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Edwina Gibbs and Tomasz Janowski)
 ((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))