India’s Akasa Air sees Boeing deliveries picking up in coming years

NEW DELHI: India’s Akasa Air expects a pick up in plane deliveries from Boeing over the coming years and to reach its target for a fleet of 226 aircraft by 2032, up from 30 currently, chief financial officer Ankur Goel said on Tuesday.

The airline expects available seat kilometers - a measure of passenger-carrying capacity - to increase by more than 30% this fiscal year, on top of 50% growth the year before.

Goel did not provide a year-by-year breakdown of deliveries, but said they were expected to increase over the period, in a press briefing in India’s capital city.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Akasa Air’s top executives were privately criticising Boeing for delayed plane deliveries and were scrambling to assuage hundreds of anxious pilots who were idle without work.

The Mumbai-based low-cost airline, which started operations about three years ago, has ordered 226 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Deliveries have been delayed as the 737 MAX programme faced regulatory scrutiny after a mid-air cabin panel blowout last year and suffered the effects of a seven-week workers’ strike.

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Goel did not provide profit or revenue data for fiscal year 2024-25. The year before, Akasa’s revenue quadrupled to $356 million, but its loss widened to $194 million from $86 million.

Akasa had a domestic market share of 5.3% in May, compared with the combined 90%-plus commanded by leader IndiGo and Air India Group.

Akasa, started with the backing of the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, dubbed India’s Warren Buffett, went on a hiring spree and began international flights to Qatar and Saudi Arabia within two years of its launch.

Despite challenges, Akasa in February raised an undisclosed amount of new capital from Indian billionaire Azim Premji’s investment arm and Jhunjhunwala’s family.