'I don't think about competition, the market is big enough for us to succeed', says Akasa Air CEO

Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube, in a recent interview with PTI, said that he doesn't think about the competition and believes that the aviation market is big enough for the company to succeed.

Dube stressed that the focus is on service excellence and cost leadership and said the airline is looking to expand its network and international presence.

Currently, the airline flies to Doha and Riyadh and will commence services to Abu Dhabi on July 11. It has started ticket sales for Jeddah and has traffic rights for Kuwait and Medina.

Notably, it also offers a host of ancillary services, including allowing pets on board flights.

Notably, Akasa Air, which has more than 4,000 employees, had placed an order for 226 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The company is expected to add more than 200 aircraft to its fleet over the next eight years.

At present, it has a fleet of 24 Boeing 737 MAX planes and operates more than 900 flights weekly. 

Dube doesn't think about competition

"I don't think about competition and certainly don't think about it in encouraging or discouraging terms. If we focus on ourselves, the market is big enough for us to succeed," Dube said.

When asked whether current competition is encouraging, Dube replied, "We don't spend so much time focused on what competition is doing unless we have things we can learn from... what can be improved upon... there is no other word than competition... good, bad, slow, fast, encouraging, discouraging, it is just competition."

Akasa Air pausing new hiring of pilots

It's worth mentioning that the company has paused new pilot hiring. However, it will soon start rehiring pilots

"We have got plenty of pilots for our current fleet. We are going to pause hiring, and at some point in time, we will start rehiring. People think there is a pilot shortage, and we have got plenty of pilots. We have been able to attract and retain pilots, and our focus now is making them happy. We will restart hiring at some point," Dube said.

Akasa on track for profitability

Talking about profitability, Dube said the company is on track for profitability and sustainable growth.

"We are steadfastly focused on it... we have seen greater operational reliability, best on time, lowest customer complaints, highest load factors, lowest cancellations...," he earlier said.