Akasa Air plans IPO in next 2-4 years; share sale is a 'question of when', says CFO

Akasa Air plans to come out with its initial share sale in the next two to four years, depending on achieving various milestones, its Chief Financial Officer Ankur Goel said on Tuesday, June 23, as he stressed that the airline's IPO is "not a question of if but a question of when".

After taking to the skies in August 2022, the airline is slowly expanding its presence and currently flies to 34 destinations, including 7 international cities. The nearly four-year-old carrier, now, has a fleet of 39 planes and aims to have 226 aircraft by 2032.

Responding to queries about the Initial Public Offering (IPO) at a briefing in New Delhi, Goel said the time frame is going to be 2-4 years, depending on achieving various milestones such as being earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) positive, cash flow and profitability.

"IPO will happen for us, it is not a question of if, it is a question of when, we are not creating an airline to do an IPO, we are creating an airline that really creates value...," he said, and also mentioned that the airline is well-capitalised.

The loss-making airline was EBITDA positive during the September 2025 - March 2026 period. EBITDA refers to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation.

"The fact that this year our losses were lower than the losses in the last year tells you the story, that each of the metrics that we are speaking about, whether it is the metric of revenue, unit revenues, whether it is the metric of unit cost, whether it is the metric of EBITDA, whether it is the metric of cash burn, all these metrics continue to improve in the manner that we predict," Goel said.

According to him, the airline aims to increase capacity by 30 per cent in this financial year, and the capacity growth would be in the range of 30-40 per cent in the next 4-5 years.

"Long-term plans have not gone through any rethink... plans remain on firm footing," he said amid the airlines' industry facing multiple headwinds, mainly due to the West Asia conflict.

To a query on whether airfares have gone up, the Akasa Air CFO replied that when the load factor is around 90%, he would not say that fares are high and that fares reflect the underlying demand.

"Fares are dynamic. Fares will go up and will come down. It is not a yes or no. The fares are dynamic, and the algorithm will ensure that fares will align with the prevailing demand in the market," he noted.

This fiscal, the airline said it would continue to strengthen its presence across domestic and international markets while leveraging opportunities presented by Navi Mumbai International Airport and Noida International Airport.

The next phase of international expansion would be in Southeast Asia, Goel said.

Operating revenue rose 37% and capacity in terms of Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) grew 30 per cent in the fiscal ended March 2026. During the same period, stage adjusted Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre (RASK) improved 10 per cent, the airline said on Tuesday.

"The airline's Cost per Available Seat Kilometre (CASK) reduced by 4 per cent year-on-year, as it absorbed significant industry cost pressures while EBITDAR margins improved by staggering 60 per cent, reflecting the benefits of scale, operational efficiency, and disciplined commercial execution," it said.

Last fiscal, the carrier completed a funding round and also received additional investment from the Jhunjhunwala family and associates.

So far in 2026, the airline has added eight aircraft, taking its total fleet size to 39.

The carrier has placed an order for 226 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, and the remaining 187 planes are scheduled for delivery over the next six years.