Akasa Air allows pets inside cabin and cargo compartments
Newly launched airline Akasa Air will offer pet friendly services on its airline. Passengers can now travel with pets in cabin and cargo compartments, according to the airline's co-founder and CMO Belson Coutinho. Coutinho said domesticated dogs and cats would be allowed to travel on Akasa flights and bookings from October 15. From November this year, the airline will allow pets inside cabin and cargo compartments.
Domestic pets are allowed on its flights, and Akasa is not the only airline that allows domestic pets on its flights. Tata s Air India also allows domestic cats, dogs and birds in the cabin and cargo compartments of domestic domestic flights with proper health and rabies vaccination certificates. As per Air India's norms, the pet should be carried in soft ventilated bags kennel in the prescribed size. Kennels should not be more than 18 x 18 x 12 and the pet's weight, including the container, should not exceed 5 kg for carrying inside the cabin.
Pets with a larger size or weight will be carried in the cargo hold. The dogs and cats must be at least 8 weeks of age to travel, and pregnant pets are not allowed inside Air India flights.
On domestic flights, Jet Airways only accepts birds and rabbits. Passengers will have to book their pets around 24 hours in advance as accompanied baggage in India. The airline allows live animals inside cargo, but not in the cabin. The airline states that it only accepts three pet containers on the B 737 aircraft and five containers on the A 330 B 777 aircraft, subject to space availability.
The Jet Airways website states that one guest can carry a maximum of three pet containers on domestic flights in the aircraft held subject to space availability. Airlines can refuse to carry pets if they are too savage or unclean.
The Akasa Air CEO and aviation veteran Vinay Dube said the airline's performance in the 60 days since its operations began has been satisfying. The airline is well capitalised and is not looking for new investors, according to Dube.
He said the airline, founded by late market maven Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, is on track as per plans. Akasa Air will begin its flights from Delhi on Friday, besides its existing network of Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi. The airline, which currently has 30 flights, has placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX planes.
Akasa Air currently has a fleet of six aircraft and is expected to hit 18 by March 2023. The airline said earlier this year, Akasa Air's fleet size will be 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 and over the next four years it will add 54 additional aircraft, taking its total fleet size to 72 aircraft. The first flight of Akasa Air took off from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on August 7 in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. From August 23 to Mumbai and Bengaluru and Kochi and Bengaluru and Mumbai and Chennai and Mumbai, the airline also launched services from August 23 and September 15 in Chennai and Mumbai. It is focusing on going international by the year 2023.