Despite only having commenced its first few flight operations earlier last month, India's relatively new low-cost carrier, Akasa Air, has rapidly expanded. The latest would be its inaugural flight on the newly launched Chennai-Bengaluru route, making the state capital the fifth city on its route network.Celebrating the expansion in Chennai was the airline's Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Praveen Iyer, who said:

"We have achieved yet another milestone today with the launch of commercial flights from Chennai, which is the fifth city in our network. By offering capacities across key focus cities backed by affordable fares, we will provide our customers many options to choose from while planning their travel."

Flying between Chennai and Bengaluru

The new Chennai-Bengaluru is already scheduled for double daily flight services in each direction, with a morning and afternoon flight for passenger convenience. With Akasa Air's all-Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet, the low-cost carrier will offer approximately 5,292 seats weekly.

Flight number

Departure time

Arrival time

QP 1320 (MAA - BLR)

10:15

11:20

QP 1319 (BLR - MAA)

08:30

09:35

QP 1316 (MAA - BLR)

13:40

14:35

QP 1313 (BLR - MAA)

12:00

13:05

*QP 13010 (MAA - BLR)

21:15

22:15

*QP 1307 (BLR - MAA)

15:15

16:20

Further expanding its operations from Chennai, Akasa Air will be upgrading the Chennai-Bengaluru route with an additional daily flight from September 26th, allowing the budget carrier to offer flight services to the state capital for the morning, afternoon, and night. The night service will eventually increase the airline's weekly capacity to 7,938.

Flying between Chennai and Kochi

Also happening on September 26th would be the airline's launch of its flight services for the Chennai-Kochi route, which is initially scheduled for once daily. On this route, Akasa Air will offer about 2,646 seats weekly.

Flight number

Departure time

Arrival time

QP 1308 (MAA - COK)

17:00

18:30

QP 1309 (COK - MAA)

19:15

20:40

Though, unlike the Chennai-Bengaluru route, it does not seem like the Indian low-cost carrier has any current confirmed plans on upgrading the daily frequency of the Chennai-Kochi route.

Flying between Chennai and Mumbai

Joining in on the single daily flight frequency from Chennai will be India's financial capital, Mumbai. Starting from September 15th, Akasa Air will begin flight services on the Chennai-Mumbai route and offer about 2,646 seats weekly.

Flight number

Departure time

Arrival time

QP 1305 (MAA - BOM)

20:50

22:45

QP 1304 (BOM - MAA)

18:10

19:55

Similar to the Chennai-Kochi route, there does not seem to be any current plans for a frequency upgrade for the Chennai-Mumbai route. Still, given how new Chennai is on the airline's route network, the current schedules are indeed impressive.

Impressive for a month-old startup airline, but also because Akasa Air's presence in Chennai will significantly improve aircraft movement and passenger traffic at Chennai International Airport, as emphasized by the Airports Authority of India (AAI):

“As we welcome more airlines like Akasa Air who are commencing operations in Chennai, we have moved from the sixth busiest airport to the fifth position. We are working on ways to move up further in the coming months and will provide all possible requirements for airlines who want to start or expand from here."

Akasa Air Delhi Airport Touchdown

Increasing its pan-India presence

The rapid expansion of cities, frequencies, and routes, and the fast growth of its fleet have been in line with Akasa Air's vision of adopting a phased, but quick approach to network growth across the country, as it aims to position itself as a significant low-cost carrier within the highly competitive Indian aviation industry. And though its growth has been positive thus far, the budget carrier will still face a steep climb in regards to yield.

Though the expansions will help in promoting revenue generation, the discontinuation of fare caps will only assure continuous fare wars between India's low-cost carriers, which will eventually prove financially disadvantageous for Akasa Air. Paired with the unfortunate passing of its largest investor, Akasa Air might soon struggle if it continues to expand any faster without having the proper yield.

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Source: Livemint