Homegrown low-cost airline Akasa Air is going to place an order for a fleet of aircraft which will be in “three digits” by the year-end, the company said on Wednesday. Moreover, the company is also looking at adding over 300 pilots in the next one year.
“By the end of the year we will place a large order for aircraft. I’m not going to disclose the number but the order will be in three digits and it will be significant,” the company’s founder and chief executive officer, Vinay Dube, said in a press conference, reported news agency PTI.
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Talking about the company’s expansion plans, Dube mentioned that it plans to go international by the year-end and intends to set up a learning academy in Bengaluru. He also said Akasa has already ordered a fleet of 72 aircraft of which 18 have been delivered.
According to Dube, Akasa Air will need at least 3,500 pilots in the next one decade.
Earlier, in an interview with Reuters, Dube had mentioned that the company plans to place a “substantially” large order for new narrowbody jets this year in line with the booming demand at home. However, the chief of the company did not reveal on whether the order would go to Boeing or Airbus.
Indian airlines are forecast to order 1,500 to 1,700 planes over the next couple of years, according to consultancy CAPA India, including a likely 500 plane order from Akasa rival IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, Reuters reported.
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Akasa Air has joined the likes of Air India which announced that it would be adding 470 aircraft to its fleet. Of these 470 aircrafts, 220 planes would be bought from Boeing and 250 aircraft would be bought from Airbus. This order is considered the biggest single order purchase by an aircraft.
The company completed six months of its operations to become the fastest growing airlines in the country, it said in a statement.
As far as the domestic market is concerned, Dube said that the company would focus on its strategy of connecting smaller cities with the country’s major metros at a time when demand remains strong despite high ticket prices.
(With agencies inputs)
