Akasa Air, India’s fastest-growing airline, announced yet another milestone; flying the 5,000th pet since the launch of its pet-travel service, Pets on Akasa in November 2022. This milestone underscores Akasa Air’s unwavering commitment to fostering inclusive, safe, comfortable, and seamless travel experiences for pets and their parents.
Commenting on the milestone, Belson Coutinho, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing & Experience Officer at Akasa Air said, “We had embarked on our journey to create an inclusive travel experience for all and today we are delighted to celebrate our 5,000th pet on Akasa. This incredible milestone reflects our commitment to ensuring that every journey, whether for our passengers or their furry companions, is safe, comfortable, and welcoming. Our pet-friendly travel policies are designed with the utmost care to address the unique needs of pets, from safety protocols to convenience and comfort.
We are extremely grateful to all the pet parents who have trusted us and to our team members who work diligently to ensure care, safety and comfort of pets while flying on Akasa Air. We look forward to enabling many more memorable journeys and continue to raise the bar for pet-friendly travel in India.”
Key Highlights:
• Milestone demonstrates the growing trend of pet parents traveling with pets by air since Akasa started the service
• Of the 5000 furry travellers, 66% pets were dogs and 34% were cats.
• Bengaluru emerged as the leading pet travel hub for Akasa, contributing 31% of all pets flown, followed by Delhi and Mumbai. The most popular routes for pet travel were Bengaluru-Delhi, Delhi-Bengaluru, and Mumbai-Delhi, reflecting strong demand in these key sectors.
Akasa Air’s Pets on Akasa service has received an overwhelmingly positive response from pet parents, solidifying its reputation as a trusted choice for safe and comfortable pet travel. This success stems from the airline’s customer-focused approach and adaptability to evolving passenger needs. Akasa Air continues to prioritize feedback from its customers, which has played an integral role in shaping its services, demonstrated by key policy enhancements introduced in May 2024 including increasing the permissible weight for pets in the cabin to 10 kgs (inclusive of the container) and extending the validity of pet travel certificates to 15 days, adding convenience and flexibility for travellers.
Customers travelling with their pets on Akasa Air enjoy a range of complimentary value-added services, including a pre-booked window seat, priority check-in and baggage delivery, and Board First, ensuring an elevated flying experience. Akasa Air has undertaken extensive research and provided specialised training for its customer care centre, airport staff, and in-flight teams, highlighting its commitment to delivering the highest standards of care, safety, and comfort throughout the journey. Moreover, Akasa Air has also partnered with Umeed for Animals Foundation which is a Gurgaon based non-profit animal rehabilitation dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating animals. The airline works with the NGO to implement best practices across processes and policies to continuously enhance pet comfort and safety.
Launched on 1st November 2022, Pets on Akasa allows customers to travel on domestic flights across 22 cities with their cats and dogs in the cabin or cargo, based on their weight. Akasa Air’s empathetic and youthful personality, employee-friendly culture, customer-service philosophy, and tech-led approach have made it the airline of choice for millions of customers. Since its inception, Akasa Air has redefined flying in India with its multiple industry-first and customer-friendly offerings. Its brand-new fleet provides ample legroom and enhanced comfort and comes with USB ports in a majority of aircraft, allowing passengers to charge their gadgets and devices on the go. Café Akasa, the airline’s onboard meal service offers an assortment of healthy and delectable meals, including festive menus and industry-first options such as Kombucha, to offer customers an indulgent gourmet experience in the skies. Akasa Air offers over 25+ ancillary products to deliver on its promise of exceptional customer service such as Akasa GetEarly, Seat & Meal Deal, Extra Seat and Akasa Holidays which offer personalization that is second to none. Consistently enhancing the cabin experience for its customers, Akasa has launched several industry-firsts such as SkyScore by Akasa, SkyLights and QuietFlights. Akasa Air has introduced its safety instruction card and onboard menu card in Braille for persons with visual impairment.
Akasa Air’s consistent on-time leadership, operational efficiencies and extremely positive customer feedback have made it a preferred carrier in India, serving over 14 million passengers since its launch in August 2022. Akasa Air currently connects with 22 domestic and five international cities, namely Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala, Pune, Lucknow, Goa, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Port Blair, Ayodhya, Gwalior, Srinagar, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Doha (Qatar), Jeddah, Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Kuwait City (Kuwait).
