Launched in August last year, Akasa Air exceeded its targeted fleet strength, exiting March 2023 with 19 aircraft instead of the planned 18 and a market share of 3%. From next year, 12-16 aircraft would be added annually, reaching a total of 72 aircraft by the middle of 2027. Swaraj Baggonkar spoke with Praveen Iyer, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Akasa Air, about the airline’s global goals and growing fleet size. Edited excerpts:

You describe your company as tech-enabled. Can ChatGPT play a role in your operations?

It is important for us to evaluate what is right, and how you embrace that into the business before making use of it. We need to do more homework to know whether we can embrace ChatGPT at this stage. We are, however, open to any technology that focuses on our core values of customer and employee satisfaction.

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Akasa has spoken about placing further aircraft orders. Is there any progress?

Exactly a year back, we spoke about two things. By the end of March, we will have 18 aircraft, and over four years (by mid-2027), we should get to 72 aircraft. We are already at 19, and the remaining 53 will follow. We discussed placing a large order. We will make the announcement at the right time.

Would you stick with the Boeing 737 Max, or do you have a plan for diversification?

We will continue with the narrow body fleet and we won’t deviate from that core business plan that we have created. Currently, it is in the evaluation stage and we will make the announcements about the type of aircraft (that we will order).

This means the door is open for choosing something like the Airbus A320, too?

Never say no. We are in talks (with the manufacturer(s). We will place the order this year and those could potentially start getting delivered from 2027 onwards, which also coincides with the completion of the ongoing order.

Is there absolutely no inclination of going for wide-body aircraft?

As of now, it is all narrow bodies. There is no deviation from that plan as yet. But you never say never in this business and if it does come to that stage, we will take a decision about what needs to be done to the fleet.

How soon can the orders be placed?

Towards the later part of this calendar year, you will certainly hear some announcements. And we will make two announcements in that quarter. One is about the aircraft order and the other is about our plans to go international.

What potential does the Indian market hold for you?

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India’s domestic aviation market is the fastest-growing market globally. Even if you look at a radius of six hours of flying, which is what a narrow body can operate, it seems pretty underserved. So, there is potential for an airline with a three-digit aircraft order to serve India and serve within a radius of six hours around India.

How would you fund this fresh order?

It will all be through sale and lease back. So far, all the orders we have taken are through sale and lease back.

You will start flying outside of India this year and you have a growing fleet. Do you still call yourself a startup?

We are at a nascent stage. We don’t want to be called a startup anymore because that phase is over. The reason why I say that there are many carriers in the world today with a fleet of 15 and that have been running for several years. We have completed eight months and have a fleet that’s comparatively larger.

Which markets outside of India are you aiming for?

We would have completed the application process, but it is a process that requires evaluating routes you wish to fly to and doing the route economics accordingly. These decisions take time. We also need to consider the current bilateral rights availability. We would love the bilateral rights between India and Dubai to expand. Everybody wants to fly to Dubai. This is still a few months away …

What if the government of India does not relent in allowing more seats to the Gulf? Do you have a Plan B in place?

There are opportunities available. There are enough and more open sky options available around India and we continue to explore each of those.

How many more aircraft and destinations will be added this year?

We will get to 20 aircraft by May and to 26-27 aircraft by March next year and from there on 12-16 aircraft every year for the next three years. We are flying to 14 destinations now and adding three more through mid-May. The domestic schedule depends on the slot availability. We are talking to various airports about the potential routes we can start.

How many flights per day do you do now?

We are doing 110 flights a day now which will go up to 133-134 towards May third week. By FY24, it will be 175-180 flights a day.