Akasa Air Says It's Back In Growth Mode After Rationalising Network
The carrier expects to open several domestic and international destinations within FY24.
Akasa Air has returned to the growth runway, after the airline had to exit a few routes due to some of its pilots quitting without serving notice period, the airline said.
"Thanks to our advanced pilot planning and training programmes we are now squarely back in growth mode," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
The carrier expects to open several domestic and international destinations in FY24, as it prepares to take delivery of additional aircraft by end of this year.
Earlier, the airline sued pilots who had left the company without serving the mandated notice period, which led to the cancellation of flights and a drop in market share for the carrier.
"Since then, we have rationalised our network to ensure that we offer our customers the highest levels of operational reliability, as we did for the first 11 months of our operation," the spokesperson said.
Akasa Air had to suspend operations on Bengaluru to Chennai and Hyderabad, with more flights expected to be cancelled on a few more routes, according to several media reports.
The sudden exit of these pilots forced Akasa to cancel 24 flights per day in September and put it in a "state of crisis". The airline has sought nearly Rs 22 crore from the pilots for the reputational and financial loss caused by the cancellation of flights.
However, the aviation regulator had said in a filing in Delhi High Court that the airline didn't submit any proof of flight cancellations, due to abrupt resignation of these pilots.
The carrier remains "financially strong and growth oriented" and on track to be one of the world's largest airlines by the end of this decade, it said.
