India’s Akasa Air to Begin Flights to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Warns Dubai, Sharjah Flights Might Not Happen
India’s newest commercial airline Akasa Air is set to ramp up operations in the Middle East sector, as it looks to commence direct flight services to Jeddah, Riyadh and Kuwait, besides the already announced plan to operate to Doha from next week.
The private carrier, which took to the international skies within a record 19-month period of starting flying operations in India, is also eyeing some of the destinations in the eastern coast of Africa, its chief executive said.
“We already received traffic rights for some of the destinations in the Middle East such as Jeddah, Riyadh and Kuwait, and we are hopeful of soon getting rights for more destinations in the region,” Vinay Dube, Founder and CEO of Akasa Air, said query on the airline’s expansion plans in the region.
“There could be issues in getting flying rights to destinations such as Dubai and Sharjah because of limitations of bilateral flying rights, but we are hopeful of even flying to other destinations in the UAE, including Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Dube said the airline was hopeful of commencing operations to “few more” international destinations besides Doha, this summer, but did not indicate specific destinations or datelines for it.
Akasa Air is to kick off its international operations with direct flight services to Doha from India’s commercial capital Mumbai from March 28.
The airline announced plans to operate four non-stop flights in a week.
Open air policies to enhance Akasa Air’s network in Middle East
Dube said bilateral right restrictions would not stand in Akasa’s plans to expand its operational network in the Middle East as several countries in the region follow open air policies.
“Dammam (Saudi Arabia) is available, Bahrain is available [under the open air policy],” he pointed out.
The Akasa Air top executive, however, ruled out any immediate plans to enter into code-sharing pacts with any of the international airlines, including carriers from the Middle East, to ramp up its international network, including in the Gulf region – considered a cash cow for Indian airlines.
Dube also said the airline was not looking at a “price war” by way of offering discounted fares to woo passengers for its soon-to-be operational Doha flights.
“As long as Akasa continues to prioritise customer satisfaction, there will be no issue in creating a name for the airline, even in a crowded market,” he said.
He also said as per the data put out by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – India’s civil aviation regulator, Akasa Air is the most punctual airline.
International travel from India to grow faster than domestic travel
Dube said India is expected to witness a surge in air travel “for the next 10 years” and that the international travel in India will grow “much faster” than domestic travel because of a combination of the country’s economic growth trajectory and the demographic advantage.
“We are living in a country where the youth really want to travel abroad, so I think international travel in India is going to grow much faster than domestic travel,” he said.
Dube said the airline will be expanding its fleet and crew in accordance with the demand and growth chart, but said he did not want to give any numbers or time period for delivery of new aircraft.
Akasa, which has a fleet size of 24 aircraft and crew strength of 700 pilots currently, announced placing a firm order for 150 Boeing 737 Max planes in the beginning of this year.
The new order comprises 737 Max 10 and 737 Max 8-200 jets.
