"Indian aviation to see double-digit growth for the next 30 years"

Vinay Dube, Founder & CEO of Akasa Air, on the country's aviation sector, why the airline was set up, and more

- SIDDHARTH ZARABI

Akasa Air took to the skies in August 2022 and has since been recognised as one of the most on-time carriers. Founder & CEO Vinay Dube has been instrumental in steering Akasa through its formative years, building a fastgrowing brand in this highly competitive sector. In the inaugural edition of Business Today Mind Rush PODS, Dube sat down for an exclusive chat with Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson of PwC in India, and Siddharth Zarabi, Editor, Business Today. Edited excerpts:

SIDDHARTH ZARABI: India's aviation sector has witnessed some pivotal moments in the recent past. How important is this period?

VINAY DUBE: India's economic engine is going to define India's aviation sector for decades to come. And that has nothing to do with one airline or the other. Think about a country of 1.4 billion people flying on [around] 600 aircraft today [while] in the US, 350 million people fly [in] 7,500 aircraft... It's not that India is a small country. We are not the size of Belgium where the mode of transportation is something completely different... And so, aviation is going to grow by double digits for the next 30 years... What's so exciting about aviation is that you've got this amazing growth ahead of you. I don't look at aviation in India on the back of one week or one day. I look at it on the back of years. And that's the exciting part.

SZ: Sanjeev, do you agree with Vinay that aviation will continue to be a massive growth driver in India?