Akasa Air ‘well capitalised’, can grow much faster: CEO Vinay Dube

MUMBAI: Akasa Air is “well capitalised” with adequate funds to place a three-digit aircraft order by the end of this year and has the potential to grow at a much faster pace, according to the airline’s chief Vinay Dube.

The airline is set to complete one year of flying next month, and in the words of Dube, “we have exceeded our expectations.” Currently, the carrier has 19 aircraft and the 20th aircraft is expected to be inducted this month, which will also make it eligible for international operations.

Both the placing of a three-digit aircraft order and commencing international operations are expected to happen in 2023. Dube said the airline is “well capitalised”.

“We are adequately funded. We were adequately funded to order 72 aircraft. We are adequately funded to add 4 more aircraft. We were funded to place another three-digit aircraft order between now and the end of this year,” the founder and CEO of Akasa Air said.

The airline has placed orders for 76 Boeing aircraft. Last month, the carrier ordered four more planes from Boeing. At a time when competition is intensifying in the Indian aviation space, with IndiGo and Air India placing huge aircraft orders as well as pursuing aggressive growth plans, Dube asserted that at Akasa Air, nothing is done that is short-term in nature.

Dube said, “I don’t think, we get caught up in whether we’re going to grow a little faster or slow. We’re chasing sustainability, and the fact that we want to build an airline that will stand the test of time.” Dube said that between now and March 2027, “we look like an airline with 76 aircraft, an airline that has a vibrant domestic market, that has multiple international gateways that we fly to.”