India's Akasa Air to add one aircraft every two weeks (updated)

Sammaan Capital

17/08/2022 11:08

(Adds background, CEO comment from statement)
    BENGALURU, Aug 17 (Reuters) - India's Akasa Air said on
Wednesday it would keep adding one new aircraft every two weeks
after the country's newest budget carrier received its third
plane.
    Akasa began commercial operations on Aug. 7 with a maiden
flight from the country's financial capital, Mumbai, to the city
of Ahmedabad.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZJ0EL
    Founder and Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube said the
airline was well-capitalized to induct 72 aircraft over the next
five years, while mourning the death of Akasa's top backer and
ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who passed away on Sunday.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZQ00W
    "Our financial platform is strong enough to allow Akasa to
place an aircraft order in the next 18 months that will be
significantly larger than our first," Dube said.    
    Akasa, which placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX jets in
November last year, will compete with budget carriers including
IndiGo  INGL.NS , SpiceJet  SPJT.NS  and GoFirst.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2S72V1
    Domestic air travel in India has made a sharp recovery this
year with airlines flying over 57 million passengers in the
first half, up 238% from last year, government data showed.
    
    

 (Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
 ((Anuran.Sadhu@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8697274436;))