After Air India sealed the biggest commercial aviation deal for 470 passenger jets, India's Akasa Air will place a "substantially" large order for new narrowbody jets this year.
The budget airline looks to capitalise on booming demand at home and begin international flights, the company's founder and CEO Vinay Dube told Reuters.
The 200-day-old airline currently flies 17 Boeing 737 MAX planes out of a total order of 72 jets to be delivered by March 2027. The company will reportedly place another order that is going to be substantially larger than the order of 72 aircrafts placed previously.
The order is likely to be made before the end of this year and will be for narrowbody planes.
However, the chief of the company did not reveal on whether the order would go to Boeing or Airbus.
Meanwhile, Air India on Tuesday placed an order for 470 jets from Airbus and Boeing as it looks to revamp its ageing fleet. The order comprises 220 Boeing planes and 250 Airbus aircraft.
Moreover, Air India has the option to buy an additional 370 aircrafts from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade, a company executive said in a recent LinkedIn post. "The order comprises of 470 firm aircraft, 370 options, and purchase rights to be procured from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade," Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial and transformation officer, Air India, wrote in a post.
Akasa Air will add three planes to its fleet within the next three months to reach 20, making it eligible to fly to international destinations as per Indian government rules, Dube told the news agency.
He added that Akasa Air aims to be flying internationally by the end of the year.
As for the domestic market, Akasa aims to focus on its strategy of connecting smaller cities with the country's major metros at a time when demand remains strong despite high ticket prices.
Dube expects that the demand in India as a whole is continue to grow over the coming years.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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