One of the worst-hit sectors due to the West Asia crisis is aviation. Record-high jet fuel prices, airspace closures, and shrinking margins have even forced domestic flight operators to urge oil marketing companies to halt fuel price hikes until the conflict gets resolved.
However, Akasa Air, India’s youngest airline operator, may turn out to be an unexpected winner from this chaos.
While its bigger rivals like IndiGo and Air India have suffered a cut in flight operations due to the war, Akasa has actually reported an increase.
The company expanded its capacity by 13.2 percent year-on-year in March and April, while IndiGo and Air India posted declines of 4.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, according to a Bloomberg report citing data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
Air India’s low-cost unit, Air India Express, also posted a decline of 17.1 percent during the same period.
However, the double-digit increase in Akasa’s capacity expansion has been supported by a low base effect.
During March and April 2026, just after the West Asia conflict started, the company operated 10,109 flights, accounting for 4.7 percent of the total domestic and international flights operated by Indian airlines during the period.
The company had operated about 8,900 flights during the same period last year.
IndiGo, the largest aviation player in India, operated over 1.31 lakh flights in March and April, down from 1.38 lakh in the corresponding period last year.
Air India saw the biggest decline, from about 74,000 flights in March-April 2025 to 65,500 flights during the same period this year.
Still, the company has shown the potential to challenge the duopoly of IndiGo and Air India.
Akasa Air was founded in December 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic and operated its first flight in August 2022.
The West Asia crisis has pushed crude oil prices up by over 50 percent compared to pre-war levels.
This has resulted in aviation companies struggling with high jet fuel prices, leading to cuts in both international and domestic flights.
