Hello Akasa Air! Was happy to fly Akasa Air from Bengaluru to Mumbai for my quick end-of-year break from Chikkaballapur Adiyogi volunteering. Since Akasa Air has launched, I have been curious about the airline. As we don’t get that many NEW airline launch in India… And because Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was part of bringing it up! Apart from being a fin-expert, he was a very active twitterati along with me at that time.
Disclaimer: not a sponsored post but happy to discuss sponsorship options 😁
The name “Akasa” is a very good one. Very close to the common “Akash” which means sky in Hindi. Akasa also means sky but pronounced differently.
First impression in the ticket booking process:
The website is basic. And their emails also lack any design, they come in as plain text. But it all works, and that is the most important thing for me. (Because I had a troubling experience when I was trying to book a ticket on Vistara a few months back. But anyway, that was a different story. The ticket never got booked, so I never ended up reviewing the flight at all)
Flight experience:
Business class = Premium seats at much more affordable costs!
I really like that they have fairly affordable “premium class”. The way we book premium seating, we can pay 1750 INR more to get this better section of seats…. similar to the much more expensive Business Class seats in other flights
I find it quite worth the spend but since I am jobless currently (sabbatical!) I didn’t opt for it.
Overall other flight seating is as usual… other premium seat options for 1000 INR , 600 INR, 400 INR are also available
Airport experience:
Nothing major stands out for me with them. Seems the usual airport experience with reasonably friendly staff.
Food Menu on Akasa
Looked pretty good. I am not someone who eats much on flight… So, I only browsed through and clicked pics for you 😉
On-flight they had coke, diet coke and paperboat juices in beverages. I didn’t check the food options 🙂
There is a USB charging options next to the food tray… Which is a nice touch I felt.
Is Akasa punctual? And what happens in case of delays?
My flight was delayed by 1 hour. They sent me an email about 2 hours in advance which was nice. After boarding, the landing was further delayed also, but they kept us informed.
This DOES NOT seem to be the norm… in Nov 2023 Akasa was the MOST on-time airline in the country! (Source here)
Can I Carry My Cycle on Akasa?
The page for excess baggage is under the Add-ons option in the menu. It clearly mentions these two points,
Pre-purchased Sports equipment will be charged at Rs.1200 per equipment. Excess Baggage as applicable will be charged over and above
The overall dimensions (L+W+H) of the checked-in baggage should not exceed 158 cms (62 inches)
I believe this allows a packed cycle box of not more than 158cm for a cost of 1200 INR. Not bad. However, if I was carrying a cycle via Akasa, I would write them an email (or tweet them) enquiring and confirming this information.
Here is a blog post on best practices for carrying cycles on Indian airlines: https://maproute.in/taking-your-cycle-via-airplane-mostly-india-related/
Have you taken any Akasa flight? How was your experience?
I have recently booked ticket from HYD to DELHI, Could not do web check-in, showed up at the counter around 6:50 and flight was at 8:05, she took my ticket and checked for 10 mins and she was signaling something to her colleague, then after 10 mins she said boarding is closed as i reached counter 1 min late. when i started to request , ground staff were all crack heads, no proper response, they all disappear from the scene . I wasted 6k and had to book indigo flight for 14k,,, their flights are mostly late, NON RELIABLE and CHEATERS,NEVER book this airlines. I don’t know why DGCA, don’t take any action against them.
I am a frequent flyer – Mumbai Bangalore Mumbai. My PNR is NYS1UA and flight # QP1738. At the checking counter I told the lady issuing the boarding pass that the luggage conveyar is very dirty. Her immediate reply was “your bags are dirty that is why the conversation is dirty”. I was taken aback by her answer I showed her that my bag is not dirty, and may be some one was walking on the conveyer with shoes on. She again told me your dirty bags is what causes the conveyer to get dirty. I told her, in that case it should be cleaned. Her reply was you tell Adani to clean it. The lady sitting in the next counter also started telling me that it is not their problem. I was not rude or impolite. I saw that the main conveyer was clean, I told her that if it is problem with our bags how come the main conveyer is clean. The other staff again started her mouthful and I told her to keep quite as I was not talking to her. The lady again told me to contact Adani. I told her that I am at airport as I had booked a flight with Akasa and not Adani. She asked me go away.
I will never travel by Akasa Air
Sad to hear that. To be honest… I suspect this level of stuff is happening across all airlines.. it is just whether we encounter or not. I think you should try to escalate to the staff ‘s manager over there next time , that may lead to some disciplinary action maybe… Tho Sometimes even the manager maybe a dumbo.