Billionaire’s airline starts ticket sales in crowded India

Akasa Air, India’s newest carrier backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, started ticket sales for its debut flights.

The low-cost airline will initially fly Boeing Co. 737 Max jets to four Indian cities, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kochi, according to a statement Friday. The carrier will start operating 28 weekly flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Aug. 7, followed by the same number of flights between Bengaluru and Kochi from Aug. 13. 

Akasa’s network strategy will be to connect metro cities with smaller towns across India, Praveen Iyer, co-founder and chief commercial officer, said. The network will expand in a phased manner and connect more cities as Akasa adds two aircraft each month in the first year, he said. The carrier expects to have a fleet of 72 737 jets within five years.

The carrier’s debut comes as most rival airlines in the cutthroat Indian market are tainted with repeated non-fatal incidents caused by mid-air technical malfunctions. The aviation regulator recently grounded two Airbus SE A320 aircraft of Go First, India’s second-biggest airline, and a Boeing Co. 787 jet of Air India Ltd., the former state-run carrier that’s now under Tata Group, after they reported incidents.

Akasa, which touts itself as the “most dependable airline in India,” is offering cheaper ticket prices than the nation’s biggest airline IndiGo. A flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on Akasa costs 3,948 rupees ($49) compared with 4,263 rupees ($53) on IndiGo, their websites show.

The carrier doesn’t have any flights to Delhi, India’s busiest airport, underscoring the challenges securing landing slots at metro airports during peak hours. To expand capacity, India is developing a second airport for the capital.