New Delhi: Akasa Air will place a “substantially” large order in 2023 as it looks to capitalise on booming demand at home and begin international flights, the company’s chief executive Vinay Dube told Reuters.
The newly launched low-cost airline’s move came two days after Air India placed orders for 840 planes from Airbus and Boeing.
Without specifying the number, Vinay Dube said, “Before the end of this year we are going to place another aircraft order that is going to be substantially larger than the 72 aircraft order we have placed.”
According to the report, Akasa Air currently has 17 Boeing 737 MAX planes. The company had earlier placed an order for 72 jets, which will be delivered by March 2027.
Dube did not say whether the order would go to Boeing or Airbus, but Akasa Air typically prefers to use single narrow-body planes to help control costs, the report said.
The plans come at a time when travel demand in India has experienced a dramatic recovery following COVID-19, making it the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, with capacity surpassing 2019 levels and passenger count inching near pre-pandemic levels.
On Tuesday, Air India announced that it had placed an order for 470 aircraft as it looks to revamp its ageing fleet. The company said it has placed an order of 250 planes with Airbus and 220 planes with Boeing.
On Thursday, Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial and transformation officer of Air India, in a LinkedIn post, said “The order comprises 470 firm aircraft, 370 options and purchase rights to be procured from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade. The Airbus firm order comprises 210 A320/321Neo/XLR and 40 A350-900/1000.”
“The Boeing firm order comprises 190 B737Max, 20 B787s and 10 B777s. We have also signed up for a long- term maintenance of the engines with CFM International, Rolls-Royce and GE Aerospace,” Aggarwal said.
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