Akasa Air Will Fly to South Asian and Middle East Countries
25.08.2023 - 12:51
/ skift.com
/ Amrita Ghosh
/ Akasa Air
India’s youngest airline Akasa Air is looking to cover the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Southeast Asian countries and countries in the Middle East, co-founder Aditya Ghosh told CNBC TV18.
Akasa Air recently added a 20th aircraft to its fleet — making it eligible to fly internationally — with the addition of Boeing 737-8-200.
Planes on Order: The airline is getting high-capacity Dash 200s to chase international demand.
The airline plans to fly internationally later this year with a fleet of 72 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, with intentions to expand to 100 aircraft by 2025. Last month, the carrier ordered four more planes from Boeing, which are to be delivered in the next four years.
It is also looking to add some 500 employees to its workforce ahead of the international expansion.
Pilot Pay: In a race to bring pilots onboard, Akasa Air reportedly raised pilots’ salary by up to 40% — with senior first officers getting $4,145 per month versus the earlier $3,353. Senior captains earn $7,621 per month, up from $7,011.
Ground transport is going to be the cornerstone of growth in the Indian online travel market, with the intercity bus category growing at a 21% annual rate.
This segment’s rapid expansion outpaces the overall online travel market’s 18% projected growth rate during the 2023-2026 period, according to a recent report titled ‘India Ground Transportation Market Sizing & OTA Benchmarking Study, FY20-FY26’ by travel consultancy firm Videc.
In the financial year 2023, the rail and intercity bus categories were 30% of the total travel market. The total air market commanded 45%.
Rail: Ixigo, including its subsidiary ConfirmTkt, leads the way with 47.7% market share, closely followed by MakeMyTrip with a 10.2% share. Other players, including Yatra.com and EaseMyTrip, each hold a 1% share.
Intercity Bus: MakeMyTrip stands out through its subsidiary redBus, securing a commanding three-fourth share. Meanwhile, ixigo Group, with its subsidiary AbhiBus, is also making significant strides, holding an 11.4% market share.
Cleartrip and Axis Bank have partnered to introduce travel benefits to all the existing and new Axis Bank credit cardholders while booking through the online travel agency’s platform.
What this Collaboration Offers: Customers will receive a range of privileges for domestic flight bookings, which include:
“Our partnership with Axis Bank will include features such as flexible bookings, cancellation options, and date changes, all without any additional costs. This is set to benefit close to 12.5 million customers,” said Cleartrip CEO Ayyappan R.
Earlier Partnerships: Last month, the companyrolled out over 4,500 bus connections in the southern state of