Akasa Air, the latest entrant in the domestic aviation space, will not be launching an initial public offering (IPO) and listing on stock exchanges by 2027, the carrier’s chief executive officer Vinay Dubey was reported as saying on October 22.
Dube, while speaking to news agency PTI, said that listing by the end of this decade would be a “much more realistic goal”.
“I don’t think 2027 will be possible for a listing, but the listing is something that we definitely want to do. We may have to gather a little more history before we can list. Certainly, listing or an IPO is something that we would desire,” he added.
As of now, only two Indian carriers – IndiGo and SpiceJet – are listed on the bourses. The plans of GoAir to launch an IPO were cancelled, and the airline has been facing financial issues that have affected its operations since May this year.
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Akasa, launched in mid-2022, currently operates over 750 flights per week across 16 routes. This includes key destinations such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
The airline is gearing up for launching international services by the end of FY24, and is set to expand its fleet for the same. At present, Akasa is operating a fleet of 20 aircraft, and will place a three-digit aircraft order by 2023-end, Dube reportedly said.
Ahead of the formal launch of overseas operations, Akasa has succeeded in securing international flying rights from the three key Middle East aviation markets of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
“We are in growth mode. We should have two more aircraft delivered before the end of this calendar year. We will exit the financial year with 25 aircraft. We will exit the following financial year with approximately 40 aircraft,” Dube told the news agency.
The Akasa CEO also dismissed reports that have claimed that the family of late ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is looking to offload its stake in the airline. “We also hear rumours about the Jhunjhunwala family leaving, which are absurd, and the family says that they are invested with us for the long run,” he said.
As per the latest official data, Akasa has a domestic market share of 4.2 percent, and flew 5.17 lakh passengers last month.
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Updated: 22 Oct 2023, 04:36 PM IST