Mint Explainer: Akasa Air turns 1. What now?
New Delhi: India’s youngest airline Akasa Air completes one year of operations today and is now getting ready to launch international flights as it now has 20 aircraft in its fleet. According to the current regulatory framework, an airline needs to complete five years of operations or must have a fleet of at least 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly overseas. Mint takes a look at where is Akasa headed: The idea of Akasa Air took birth during the year 2020 when industry veteran Vinay Dube approached stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
Dube, who comes with experience across American Airlines, Sabre Inc., Delta Air Lines, Jet Airways and Go First, wanted to start a dependable and affordable airline in India. Simultaneously, Aditya Ghosh, former president of India’s largest airline IndiGo, also got on board and the airline received a no-objection certificate from the Indian civil aviation regulator in October 2021 to launch flights. The airline’s core team includes sector experts with aviation experience.
The current team comprises executives from erstwhile Jet Airways such as co-founder and chief marketing and experience officer Belson Coutinho and co-founder, senior vice-president aircraft acquisition, financing and insurance Bhavin Joshi. In fact, co-founder and chief commercial officer Praveen Iyer has had stints at Jet Airways as well as Go First. The team also includes ex-IndiGo executives such as Priya Mehra as chief legal, regulatory and strategic relations officer and Ankur Goel as chief financial officer.
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