Akasa Air

Akasa Air is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was founded in 2021 by a team that included Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh, with investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala holding a major stake in the airline. The airline began commercial operations on 7 August 2022. As of January 2026^[update], the airline flies to 31 destinations including six international destinations with a fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

In March 2021, a group of former executives from defunct airlines Jet Airways and Go First, announced plans to launch a new low-cost carrier. In July 2021, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invested US$35 million for a 40% stake in the carrier. Vinay Dube owned 31% of the airline and Aditya Ghosh owned 10% of it. Later, Jhunjhunwala increased his stake in the airline to 46%. The airline received a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in October 2021. In March 2022, the airline announced plans to start operations in June 2022, with flights connecting various tier-2 and tier-3 towns to the metros. On 7 July 2022, the airline received its air operator's certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after completing the required proving flights, and started accepting bookings from later that month.

On 7 August 2022, Akasa Air operated its first commercial flight between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, which carried the airline executives, journalists, and bloggers. The airline commenced operations with a fleet of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, with plans to add an aircraft every two weeks. On 25 August 2022, the airline reported a data breach to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. In August–September 2023, the airline cancelled over 700 flights as several pilots left the airline and joined Air India Express. While the airline sent a legal notice to the pilots and initiated legal proceedings against the DGCA for its inaction, Air India Express responded that the pilots had fulfilled their obligation by paying a set bond amount to Akasa Air.

Akasa Air announced plans to commence international flights starting in 2023. In December 2023, Akasa Air received permission from the DGCA to operate international flights. On 28 March 2024, it commenced its inaugural international flights between Mumbai and Doha, with expansion to other cities starting in the coming months. On 8 January 2025, the airline became a member of International Air Transport Association, following completion of pre-requisite safety audits earlier that week. In February 2026, a Delhi court ordered Akasa Air to pay ₹10.8 million (US$130,000) to a travel agency for the cancellation of 640 seats booked during December 2023–January 2024.

Akasa Air is headquartered in Mumbai. Vinay Dube serves as the Managing Director and CEO of the airline. As of late 2023, the Jhunjhunwala estate owned 45.97% of the airline, with Dube holding a 16.13% stake, Madhav Bhatkuly with 9.41%, Sanjay Dube and Niraj Dube each with 7.59%, and PAR Capital Ventures with 6.37%.

On 22 December 2021, the airline unveiled its brand identity and logo, with the tagline It's Your Sky. The logo consists of a 'rising A' symbol in 'Sunrise orange', shaped like a flying bird, and the name of the airline in purple along side. The aircraft have a predominantly white colour scheme with the name of the airline in purple on both sides of the fuselage. An orange colour scheme starts in the rear underbody fuselage and continues till the end of the tail section, along with blue accents around the front edges and the 'rising A' in blue on the tail. The winglets and engines of the aircraft are painted in orange.

In July 2022, the airline unveiled its crew uniform. The ground crew uniform had grey top with a black pants, and orange sneakers. The cabin crew uniform had orange top and similar combination of pants and sneakers. It was the first airline in India to introduce sneakers made of recycled rubber, and to introduce them as a part of uniform for cabin crew.

Akasa Air launched its commercial operations in July 2022 with 28 weekly flights connecting four destinations. The airline launched international flights to Qatar in March 2024, and later added flights to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.