Akasa Air has announced the addition of Kolkata to its network. The West Bengal city is the 17th destination in the airline’s network.
Kolkata added
Starting 18th May 2023, Akasa Air will connect Bengaluru and Guwahati to Kolkata. Flights from Bengaluru to Guwahati will operate via Kolkata so in addition to nonstop flights from Kolkata to Guwahati and Bengaluru, passengers travelling from Bengaluru to Guwahati will also be able to take advantage of a through flight via Kolkata with no change of aircraft required.
The flights will be operated with the following schedule:
- Bengaluru-Kolkata
- Departure time: 14:30
- Arrival time: 17:15
- Flight time: 2 hours and 45 minutes
- Flight number: QP1377
- Frequency: Daily
- Kolkata-Guwahati
- Departure time: 17:55
- Arrival time: 19:05
- Flight time: 1 hour and 05 minutes
- Flight number: QP1377
- Frequency: Daily
- Guwahati-Kolkata
- Departure time: 19:45
- Arrival time: 21:10
- Flight time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
- Flight number: QP1371
- Frequency: Daily
- Kolkata-Bengaluru
- Departure time: 21:50
- Arrival time: 00:15 (the next day)
- Flight time: 2 hours and 25 minutes
- Flight number: QP1371
- Frequency: Daily
Flights will be operated by Boeing B737MAX-8 aircraft. Akasa Air already operates a daily nonstop flight between Bengaluru and Guwahati so the addition of Bengaluru-Kolkata-Guwahati flight is just a capacity addition on the route.
As the fastest growing airline in the country we are thrilled to add Kolkata to our ever-expanding network and firmly establishing our presence in all metro cities of the country. A uniquely important centre of history, art, and culture in India, Kolkata is a city that witnesses a lot of attraction from travellers. With these flights, Akasa’s network will connect major cities in East India with convenient flight timings providing enhanced connectivity on high-demand routes. Having seamless connectivity coupled with the most affordable rates will further enhance travel and tourism in this city and we are excited for passengers to enjoy the Akasa experience.
said Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air.
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Kolkata is Akasa’s second destination in the state of West Bengal after Bagdogra. The airline will soon start flights to Bagdogra from Bengaluru.
Also read: Akasa Air Review: Flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad (again!): How has it kept up?
Growing fast!
Akasa Air has had one of the fastest induction of aircraft of any airline in India. The airline currently has 19 aircraft in its fleet in just nine months of operations.
The airline has its main hub at Bengaluru with “mini-hubs” at Mumbai and Ahmedabad. It already serves 17 cities across India (service to some cities will begin in the near future).
The addition of Kolkata means that Akasa now serves all metro cities in India – Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. This means that the airline has almost completed Tier-1 city expansion.
We can expect the airline to start adding Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities soon, some of which have already been added such as Goa and Varanasi.
Akasa’s aircraft induction has slowed down a bit now, with the airline taking delivery of 12 aircraft a year now. This means that the “break-neck speed” at which the airline was expanding up until now will slow down now.
The airline is now in the process of adding services across existing destinations also, increasing presence in the city it already serves. We may see continued growth from Akasa, although along a longer period of time.
Featured image by Ishan Haria
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