Akasa Air is well capitalized, path to profitability intact: CEO Dube

According to an executive privy to the development, this comes even as the airline nears closing a $120-million infusion of funds from a clutch of investors such as the family offices of billionaires Azim Premji and Ranjan Pai.

“We can’t comment one way or the other (on capital raising plans),” Akasa Air’s CEO Dube said in an interview with Mint on Thursday. “We are ecstatic with our financial performance, and Akasa is well capitalised,” he said.

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“We should have another fantastic year (2025) demand is extremely strong. By the end of the next fiscal year (2025 or 2026), we will have yet another year where Akasa will continue to be India’s fastest-growing airline,” said Dube.

Dube started as an operations research analyst with American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by fleet size, followed by a decade-long stint with Delta Air Line. In 2017, he took over as CEO of Jet Airways, only to leave the firm in May 2019, a month before the airline stopped flying because of the financial crunch. Subsequently, he also served as the CEO of GoAir for six months. Earlier this week, the bankruptcy court decided to distribute GoAir’s assets after it had done the same to Jet Airways last year.

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Growth in 2024

Dube declined to share the airline’s financials but said the company had grown in “high double digits” in 2024 and is the country’s fastest-growing airline.

Privately-held Akasa ended with ₹3,144.4 crore in terms of total revenue in the year ended 31 March 2024, a 4x jump from ₹778 crore from the preceding year, according to the financials filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. However, its losses expanded from ₹744.53 crore in the year ended March 2023 to ₹1,670 crore last year.

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Dube said the country’s two newest airports—the Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Noida Airport—should help improve its profitability. Both airports are expected to become operational this year.

“Our plan is to work very closely with both airports to launch several flights from India’s two newest airports in the next fiscal year. Right now, we’re not able to say how many flights and at what time because permissions, schedules, network planning, and approval planning are in progress. Can’t give specifics other than the fact that you can expect a lot of departures from these airports in the next fiscal year,” said Dube.

Akasa is set to benefit from the new airports. With a steady flow of aircraft, the airline can have an early mover advantage by taking slots in cities to which it currently is not flying due to the non-availability of slots at major airports.

Delivery of new aircraft

Akasa Air has a fleet of 26 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody aircraft, and the 27th aircraft is expected to join the fleet soon. The airline has an order for over 200 Boeing MAX aircraft. Like other airlines globally, it is seeing slower aircraft delivery. However, the airline seems confident about the delivery plan.

“We have stopped giving guidance on fleet induction; everyone knows the issues with Boeing’s slower deliveries. Boeing has always been and continues to be a very good partner to Akasa. We are deep in discussions on pending deliveries, and we have a delivery plan that meets our expectations,” said Dube.

DGCA hurdles

In the past few months, Akasa Air has received many notices from the civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Recently, some Akasa pilots wrote to the regulator highlighting alleged lapses.

“Any notes or emails are anonymously being written; we have no justification to say that’s even been written by an Akasa employee. We conduct surveys with pilots and all other employees; we are happy with the result of the satisfaction survey,” said Dube.

“We have 775 active flying pilots; there is no case of overhiring as we follow a set pattern of hiring that matches the industry standards,” he added.

According to DGCA data, the airline carried 73.81 lakh domestic passengers in 2024, holding the third-largest market share of 4.6%. Dube told Mint that the airline is not chasing a particular market share; instead, it aims to grow in terms of numbers, which would eventually improve its market share.