The country’s newest airline, Akasa Air is all set to spread its wings in the Indian sky. The airline plans to introduce new flights to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala. Akasa Air believes that GoFirst will vacate some of its prime slots in these states. Akasa Air eyes these slots
The country’s newest airline, Akasa Air is all set to spread its wings in the Indian sky. The airline plans to introduce new flights to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala. Sources aware of the airline’s plans told Moneycontrol. Akasa Air believes that if GoFirst restarts its flights, it will also vacate some of its key slots in these states. Akasa Air is eyeing these slots. An official said, “The airline plans to increase the number of flights from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala in the next 6 months, to capitalize on the growing regional demand from these states. The airline now sees an opportunity here ”
Airline Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Pune Airport; Both the airports of Goa – Dabolim and Manohar International; Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram airports in Kerala; and will aggressively bid for slots at Mangaluru and Bangalore’s Kempegowda airports in Karnataka.
A source said, “Akasa Air will bid aggressively for whatever slots become available in the coming times, as part of its expansion plan. The airline also plans to start international flights in the future.”
Go First is currently going through a voluntary bankruptcy process, due to which they are not able to use their lock. In such a situation, it is expected that some slots of GoFirst may be available for other airlines from the upcoming winter schedule. Winter schedule starts from November.
Go First slots will remain with the airline under the existing laws till March 2024, till the new guidelines proposed by the ministry come into force. Under the current slot allocation rules, the government cannot take the slots of Go First before one year.
Another source said Akasa Air had been waiting for an opportunity for some time to increase flying some of its most profitable routes out of South India. The airline was struggling to get slots. “The most profitable routes for Aqasa are Bengaluru-Kochi, Mumbai-Goa and Pune-Bengaluru. The airline would like to increase flights on these routes,” said another source.
