India’s Akasa Air is looking to grow its operating capacity in the near term, amid optimism that new aircraft deliveries will pick up in the coming years.
The low-cost operator, which began operations in 2022, expects its ASKs to grow “over 30%” for the current fiscal year, which ends 31 March 2026. This is on top of the 48% capacity growth it reported in the previous financial year.
Airline executives told a media briefing on 22 July that the carrier sees 737 Max deliveries picking up in the coming years, allowing it to expand its operations.
The low-cost operator had been impacted by prolonged production delays for the 737 Max programme, which faced increased regulatory scrutiny after an in-flight cabin panel blowout in 2024. Deliveries of the 737 Max was also hit by delays after a seven-week workers’ strike.
Akasa operates just 30 737 Max aircraft to date, a figure well below its initial projections of a new aircraft delivered every two weeks. The carrier has orders for 226 737 Max aircraft, including the larger Max 10s.
A Reuters report, citing executives at the media briefing, says the carrier hopes to reach it targeted fleet size of 226 jets by 2032. The airline did not provide a delivery timeline for its remaining aircraft orders.
Still, recent developments at Boeing suggest that delivery performance for the 737 Max is improving. Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary on 21 July said the “quality and the timeliness” of Boeing deliveries has “improved dramatically” over the past year, with the low-cost carrier taking five 737s ahead of schedule.
AKASA SEES GOOD FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Akasa reports “robust growth across financial parameters” for the year to 31 March. Without disclosing specific figures, the airline says revenue grew 49% year on year, while its unit cost (excluding fuel) fell 7%.
During the financial year, the airline carried 16 million passengers, nearly double the number it carried in the year ago period.
While it did not provide profit data, the airline was loss-making in the year before, posting a loss of $194 million.
The airline’s financial chief Ankur Goel adds: “Akasa Air’s financial performance reflects the strength of our business model and the disciplined execution of our strategy. We are optimistic about the future and are looking forward to building on the momentum of our robust financial and commercial performance in the years ahead”.
