Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, launched its inaugural flight from Chennai, the fifth location in its network, on September 10, 2022. This allowed the airline to start operating twice-daily flights between Chennai and Bengaluru. The airline will begin one more daily flight on the Mumbai-Chennai route on September 15, 2022, and will add one additional daily flight on the Bengaluru-Chennai route on September 26, 2022, as part of the ongoing expansion of its operations out of Chennai.
The airline has expanded the connectivity of its pan-India network and introduced a new route between Chennai and Kochi, which will begin service on September 26, 2022. This accelerated growth of cities, routes, and frequencies is consistent with the airline’s goal of building its network across India gradually.
Commenting on the maiden flight and the new route, Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder, and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air, said, “We have achieved yet another milestone today with the launch of commercial flights from Chennai, which is the fifth city in our network. From today, we will offer double-daily flights in each direction on this new route”.
“Within the next 5 days, we will strengthen our network from Chennai by connecting to Mumbai, the financial capital of India, effective 15th September. On the 26th of September, with the start of the Chennai-Kochi route, we will further strengthen our connectivity from Chennai. The increased capacities across these key focus cities backed by affordable fares will provide our customers with as many options to choose from while planning their travel. We are delighted to augment our network to meet our commitment of progressively adding more cities along new sectors”, he added.
The airline started its commercial operations with two aircraft and has subsequently received four aircraft to date. It will continue to grow its fleet with a view to establish a strong pan-India presence with a focus on key cities and metro to tier 2 & 3 route connectivity. Akasa Air’s fleet size will be 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023, and over the next four years, the airline will add 54 additional aircraft, taking its total fleet size to 72 aircraft.
