Akasa Air, the country’s newest airline, launched services in the Bengaluru-Kochi-Bengaluru sector from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) on Friday.
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CIAL managing director S. Suhas inaugurated the maiden flight from Kochi. Starting Saturday, the airline will operate double flights daily in each direction. The first flight will arrive from Bengaluru at 8.30 a.m. and return at 9.05 am. The second flight will arrive at 12.30 p.m. and return at 1.10 p.m.
Kochi topped the list of Akasa Air’s first phase of operations with 56 services catering for Kochi, apart from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.
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In his inaugural speech, Mr. Suhas expressed happiness about Kochi airport being given priority by Akasa for its first phase of operations. “CIAL cherishes the collaboration with Akasa. The commencement of Akasa’s operations exemplifies CIAL’s vision to offer optimum convenience and flexibility to passengers,” he said.
Praveen Iyer, chief commercial officer, Akasa Air, said the airline was extremely grateful for the response it had received from travellers. “With the new Bengaluru-Kochi route, we look forward to our customers from these cities experiencing Akasa Air’s warm and efficient customer service and reliable operations at affordable fares,” he said.
With the commencement of Akasa’s operations, CIAL will have 100 departures to Bengaluru alone in a week. IndiGo, AirAsia, GoFirst, and Alliance Air are the other airlines operating in the sector.
A.M. Shabeer, executive director, CIAL; Dinesh Kumar, head, operations, and Saji Daniel, chief financial officer, were present.
Akasa Air had started its commercial operations with two aircraft and plans to induct two 737 MAX aircraft each month to establish a strong pan-India presence, with focus on metro to tier II and III route connectivity. The airline proposes to increase its fleet size to 18 by the end of March 2023 and by 72 aircraft over the next four years.