PremiumNewly-launched carrier Akasa Air flight number Akasa Air QP-1103 suffered a bird hit on its way to Bangalore on Saturday. The flight returned safely to Mumbai airport, according to news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, Akasa is aiming for over 250 flights per week operating over nine domestic routes by the second week of October, the airline said on Friday as it announced entry in the highly-competitive Delhi market.
The airline, founded by late stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala along with aviation industry veteran Vinay Dube, launched its operations on August 7 with a flight to Ahmedabad from the financial capital.
Since then, it has expanded the route network to Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru.
Akasa Air's fleet size will be 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 and over the next four years, the airline will add 54 additional aircraft, taking its total fleet size to 72 aircraft, it stated.
On August 17, Dube said the airline is well-capitalised and its growth is secure with the financial means to place an order for more planes, days after the passing away of Jhunjhunwala.
With the passing away of ace investor Jhunjhuwala, whose backing itself had provided a tailwind for the country's newest airline, the future trajectory of the airline will be closely watched.
Regarding the government's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), the Akasa Air chief on Thursday said it is appreciative that the government continues to recognise the importance of the aviation sector.
"We just hope that the government's support extends to startup airlines as well. Startup airlines are operating in the same difficult environment... we will be more than happy to get any kind of government support... I don't know what is on the table. So I can't elaborate," he said.
About airfares, Dube said the airline looks at the affordability of airfares in a much longer time horizon and "our view is that we will have a high degree of focus on infrastructure".
At present, the airline has a total staff of around 800 and about 175 people are joining every month.