New Delhi: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s untimely demise will impact Akasa Air’s operations or growth plans, the airline’s chief executive officer and co-founder Vinay Dube stated on August 17.

The largest shareholder in the low-cost carrier, billionaire financier Jhunjhunwala, died on August 14—exactly one week after Akasa began service with a trip between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

“Yesterday (August 16) we received our third aircraft in Delhi, which will be put into operation on the Mumbai-Bengaluru sector shortly. We will continue to grow our fleet by adding one new aircraft every two weeks,” Dube said in a release to the media.

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Through three trusts named after his children Nishtha, Aryaman, and Aryavir, Jhunjhunwala’s family owns about 45 percent of the airline.

Akasa Air is well capitalised, having the financial capacity to add 72 aircraft over the next five years, according to Dube, a former CEO of Jet Airways.

He stated that Akasa planned to announce a second order for aircraft over the following 18 months that would be substantially larger than the first order.

Dube gave the investors comfort by assuring them that, despite Jhunjhunwala’s unexpected passing, Akasa Air had a top-notch leadership team that would handle all day-to-day decisions without needing to consult any investors.

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Jhunjhunwala had said in an interview that Akasa Air was a thrifty carrier and would be fiercely competitive in the aviation industry.

“Our competitors are ordering new chairs in response to Akasa’s chair,” Jhunjhunwala told CNBC TV-18.

He claimed that Akasa would be in competition with companies like IndiGo and SpiceJet for a piece of India’s rapidly expanding domestic air travel industry.

He said that when per capita discretionary expenditure rises, there would be a lot more flying. Jhunjhunwala also highlighted Jyotiraditya Scindia’s forecast that 40 crore passengers will fly out of India during the next four years.

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By 2027, he predicted, India’s need for aircraft will have nearly doubled, totaling 1,200.

Speaking about the challenges in the aviation sector, Jhunjhunwala said he was “prepared for Akasa Air to even fail, but better to have tried and failed than not tried at all”.

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