Second Foreign Destination: Akasa Air Opens Bookings For Jeddah Flights

Akasa Air, the newest major airline from India has opened the reservations for its second international destination and first in Saudi Arabia: Jeddah. Last year, it received the nod to start international flights to Kuwait, Riyadh, Jeddah, and Doha. At the start of the Summer Schedule, it has already started flights to Doha. Now, it has started taking bookings for Jeddah flights.

Akasa Air: Connecting Jeddah to 2 Indian Cities

In October 2023, Akasa Air received international flying rights to operate to two destinations in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh and Jeddah. On January 17, the airline announced the appointment of General Sales Agent in the Kingdom. Al-Maha United Travel was appointed as the airline’s GSA for the region.

On its booking portal, Akasa Air has now started booking for its second international destination. The airline will connect Jeddah to two Indian cities: Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Overall, it will operate 14 times a week to Jeddah Airport.

Akasa Air Jeddah Network

On July 15, Akasa Air will foray into the Saudi Arabian market with the operational launch at Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport. Initially, it will be operating daily flights for a week. Later, from 21 July, it will upgrade this service from daily to 12 times a week. Akasa Air will operate two daily flights every day except Wednesdays and Saturdays.

With this, Akasa Air will become the fifth airline to connect Mumbai to Jeddah. Already, other Indian carriers like IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, and Vistara are operating on this route. Both airlines under TATA Group- Air India & Vistara, along with IndiGo operate daily flights on this route. SpiceJet, on the other hand, operates once-weekly flights.

Now, let us have a look at the details of the flight between Ahmedabad and Jeddah. From 20 July, Akasa Air will operate twice weekly between both cities. The flight will be operational on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On this route, Akasa Air has a single competitor. IndiGo operates daily Airbus A321neo flights between Ahmedabad and Jeddah.

Akasa Air has a fleet of 24 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, out of which some aircraft are fitted with Premium cabins at the front. Akasa Air sells these seats as A++ seats. Here is a collective look at the timings of Akasa Air Jeddah flights.

Why Only 2X Weekly on the Ahmedabad-Jeddah Route?

Those, who have tracked the journey of Akasa Air know that the airline is known for starting flights in bulk. It either starts flights with daily frequency or more than four/five times a week. Akasa Air operating a once or twice-weekly flight is a very rare case.

In this case, the most likely possibility is that the airline received rights to operate 14X weekly flights to Jeddah, but was not able to receive the same slots at Mumbai Airport since the airport is slot-constrained. Hence, it is operating 12X weekly flights from Mumbai and the remaining two from Ahmedabad. This is exactly why the timings of 5X weekly BOM-JED & 2X weekly AMD-JED services are exactly the same.

Mumbai Airport has limited slots on availability, because of which the airport was recently forced to reduce operations. Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) blamed the airport operator for granting extra slots to airlines, which resulted in congestion and increased waiting time for flights. Many airlines had to reduce their schedule from the second largest airport in India.

Akasa Air International Market: What is Next?

Akasa Air launched operations in August 2022 and has rapidly added its network and fleet. For the past few months, the airline has not taken deliveries of any Boeing 737 MAX. In March-end of 2024, Akasa Air forayed into the international market with its maiden flight connecting Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) and Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH). Now, it operates daily flights on this route.

Now, the airline is foraying into the Jeddah market. Hajj/Umrah season is on, and the airline will look to exploit it. Various airlines like SpiceJet and Saudia have already started transporting Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. SpiceJet has leased a pair of Airbus A340s for Hajj operations.

Now, let us talk about the potential next move of Akasa Air. In the initial phase, the airline had plans to start flights to Doha, Jeddah, Riyadh, and Kuwait. It has already started Doha flights, and Jeddah flights are on sale. Most likely, the next destination should be Riyadh, followed by Kuwait City. Akasa Air CEO has earlier batted for foreign carriers seeking more flying rights for operating to Dubai. The bilateral rights to Dubai are fully exhausted. Hence, Akasa Air is unlikely to enter the Dubai market, unless there is a change in the bilateral agreement.

DGCA will soon redistribute the international flying rights of GoFirst, which went bankrupt in May. GoFirst still holds rights for daily flights to Dubai. It will be interesting to see, which Indian carrier gets these flying rights.

Conclusion

Akasa Air has started taking bookings for its second destination in the international market. From 15 July, the airline will foray into the Saudi Arabian market with daily Jeddah flights. Subsequently, it will enhance frequency to 12 times a week. Alongside this, it will add twice-weekly flights between Ahmedabad and Jeddah. Al-Maha United Travel is the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Akasa Air in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

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