Akasa Air’s standalone net loss rose 18.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to roughly Rs 1,983 crore in 2024–25 (FY25), driven by rising employee costs, aircraft maintenance and airport charges, and a sharp increase in foreign exchange (forex) expenses, sources privy to the development told Business Standard.
While Akasa slipped further into the red, the other three major Indian airlines — IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India — fared much better in FY25. IndiGo remained highly profitable despite a slight Y-o-Y decline in profit.
SpiceJet returned to the black and Air India reduced its losses while turning operationally profitable.
Responding to queries on its FY25 results, an Akasa Air spokesperson said the airline does not comment on speculation but added, “It is important to note that the foundational years of any airline are dedicated to investing in its people, fleet, training, operating infrastructure, and network, and hence no airline registers P&L (net) profits in these years.
"Running an airline is a business of fixed costs and needs some scale before we turn profitable.
"This is neither surprising nor unanticipated. Our robust business plan provides for these losses.”
The spokesperson added that Akasa remains “net cash positive” at the operating level and that “financially, we are ahead of our plans, and our investors have always believed in the long-term vision and fundamentals of Akasa”.
The airline, which began operations in August 2022, saw employee costs rise by 36 per cent Y-o-Y in FY25, sources said. Maintenance expenses grew by 26.6 per cent Y-o-Y, while forex costs surged by 181 per cent Y-o-Y, they added.
Airport charges increased 40.9 per cent Y-o-Y in FY25.
Meanwhile, the airline is also seeing a leadership churn in recent months.
Ajit Bhagchandani, vice-president (in-flight services), stepped down recently.
Confirming this, the airline spokesperson said, “Ajit Bhagchandani has decided to move on due to personal reasons.
"We respect his decision and are grateful to him for his contribution in building Akasa.”
As first reported by Business Standard on May 26, three other senior executives had either resigned or were serving notice — Rishabh Dev, head of long-term operations and strategy; Amol Mane, vice-president of aircraft acquisition and leasing; and Vineet Mishra, deputy general manager for catering.
This leadership churn comes at a time when the airline’s expansion has visibly slowed.
After rapidly ramping up from 36 weekly flights in August 2022 to 945 by June 2023, Akasa has managed to increase its weekly services by just 13.2 per cent over the past two years, operating 1,070 weekly flights as of June 2025, Cirium data shows.
A major constraint has been delayed aircraft deliveries from Boeing.
Of 226 planes ordered, only 30 have been inducted so far.
While 24 of them were added between June 2022 and June 2024, just six arrived in the past year, leaving a large section of the airline’s pilot workforce underutilised and pushing up costs.
The airline addressed the pilot issue in its response to the newspaper.
“We currently have 775 pilots hired to fly and despite the changes in the aircraft delivery schedules, more than 78 per cent of our pilots have begun to accumulate flying hours, which is a significant increase from 60 per cent in December 2024.
"By the end of this calendar year, 100 per cent of our pilots will be accumulating flying hours,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also reaffirmed the airline’s confidence in its aircraft supplier.
“Our relationship with Boeing remains strong and collaborative. We have received three aircraft deliveries in the last six weeks, taking our fleet strength to 30, and are confident about receiving our planned deliveries this year.”
Akasa said it increased its available seat kilometre (ASK) by about 40 per cent in FY25 and is targeting similar Y-o-Y growth in the current financial year (2025–26).
ASK is a standard measure of airline capacity, calculated by multiplying the number of seats available by the distance flown.
“We will receive 196 more aircraft over seven years. Aircraft deliveries will naturally translate into more SLB gains and more cash flow.
Our cost structure is well thought through, and we are incredibly disciplined in how we allocate capital,” the spokesperson said.'
SLB refers to sale-and-leaseback transactions, where the airline sells a newly delivered aircraft to a lessor and then leases it back — generating upfront cash while still retaining operational use of the plane.
IndiGo, India’s largest airline, posted a net profit of Rs 7,258 crore in FY25.
SpiceJet reported a standalone net profit of Rs 61.9 crore for the year, marking its first full-year profit in seven years.
Air India, while not disclosing exact figures, informed employees that it had turned operationally profitable in FY25, with its overall losses decreasing considerably.
Boeing’s aircraft deliveries have been delayed over the past two years due to quality-control issues, including a mid-air panel blowout and manufacturing defects, as well as increased regulatory scrutiny and supply-chain constraints.
A workers’ strike in late 2024 also disrupted production, further slowing the output of its 737 MAX aircraft.
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