Akasa Air has announced its entry in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with Visakhapatnam as its first destination in the state. Visakhapatnam is the airline’s 10th destination overall.
Visakhapatnam launch
Starting 10th December 2022, Akasa Air will operate a daily flight between Bengaluru‘a Kempegowda International Airport and Visakhapatnam International Airport with the following schedule:
- Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam
- Departure time: 15:45
- Arrival time: 17:30
- Flight time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Flight number: QP1344
- Frequency: Daily
- Visakhapatnam-Bengaluru
- Departure time: 18:20
- Arrival time: 20:05
- Flight time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Flight number: QP1345
- Frequency: Daily
As of 12th December 2022, the airline will operate an additional daily flight on the route with an added benefit of early morning timings:
- Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam
- Departure time: 05:25
- Arrival time: 07:00
- Flight time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
- Flight number: QP1337
- Frequency: Daily
- Visakhapatnam-Bengaluru
- Departure time: 07:35
- Arrival time: 09:15
- Flight time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
- Flight number: QP1338
- Frequency: Daily
Flights will be operated by Akasa’s Boeing B737MAX-8 aircraft featuring standard Economy Class seats.
We are delighted to add Visakhapatnam to our expanding network as the fourth major destination in South India with twice daily Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam-Bengaluru flights. Visakhapatnam is a promising Tier II city and a key player in India’s growth story owing to its advantageous coastal location, real-estate boom, and industrial prospects.
said Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air.
Stay up to date: Sign up for my newsletter to never miss latest Aviation and Travel news.
Frequency increase out of Bengaluru
Witnessing a rise in demand, the airline is further augmenting connectivity between Bengaluru and Ahmedabad by adding a third frequency starting 17th December 2022. The new frequency will operate on all days except Wednesday.
The airline will commence double-daily flights between Bengaluru and Pune on 26th November 2022. And as of 10th December 2022, a third daily flight will be operated, taking the total up to three daily flight options between Pune and Bengaluru.
Strengthening our connectivity, we are pleased to add one more frequency each on the high demand Bengaluru-Ahmedabad and the debut Bengaluru-Pune routes.
added Iyer.
Expanding Bengaluru hub
Akasa Air is growing in Bengaluru as a fast pace. Its network strategy is now becoming clearer, with Bengaluru coming out as its main hub while Mumbai being the secondary. The airline will soon be the third largest airline at Bengaluru already after IndiGo and AirAsia India.
Akasa Air will now offer 24 daily non-stop flights ex-Bengaluru to 8 cities: Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Kochi, Guwahati, Pune and Visakhapatnam in addition to a one-stop flight to Agartala (via Guwahati).
The newest low-cost carrier of India has not yet started offering connections through any city where it has flights to multiple destinations. For example, Mumbai is not connected with a nonstop flight to Kochi by Akasa Air but both Kochi and Mumbai are connected to Bengaluru. So Akasa can offer connecting flights from Mumbai to Kochi via Bengaluru but isn’t doing so yet. Even so, Bengaluru’s geographical position isn’t the best for domestic connections, suppose for a person going from west to east India or vice versa. But for a person travelling to/from South India, Bengaluru can become a connecting hub for Akasa and I am sure it will.
Akasa Air has added Visakhapatnam, which is a Tier-II city as its 10th destination in India. The airline wants to connect metros to Tier-II and Tier-III cities so it will be interesting to see which Tier-III city will Akasa Air choose as its first Tier-III city and from which hub will it launch flights to that city.
Featured image by Akasa Air
What do you think of Akasa Air adding Visakhapatnam to its network? Let me know in the comments section below.
Follow IH Aviation and Travel on Social Media on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.