New airline Akasa ekes out 1% share of crowded skies

India’s newest carrier Akasa Air took a 0.9 per cent share of the domestic market in September, its first full month operating in a country where almost a dozen airlines vie for passengers.

The low-cost carrier, backed by the billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who died in August at the age of 62, is trying to muscle into a market that continues to be dominated by IndiGo, which had a nearly 58 per cent share in September, according to data published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Akasa started flying between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Aug. 7 using Boeing Co. 737 aircraft. It expanded to Bengaluru and Kochi later in the month, and its website shows it now also flies to New Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala and Chennai.