Multiple users have shared a video, claiming that an in-flight safety announcement on an Akasa Air flight was made in Sanskrit, a classical language of India. The video shows a flight attendant giving a safety briefing on what seems to be an Akasa flight, with inlaid subtitles for the announcement, identifying the flight as Akasa Air 059A.
The Facebook post reads: “*Sanskrit is now a ‘language in use’!* *First flight announcement in Sanskrit!!*Naman – Akasa Air !!*अब तो जहाज़ में भी संस्कृत में अनाउंसमेंट शुरुआत हो गई है, आगे आगे देखो होता हैं क्या… जयतु संस्कृतं जयतु भारतम्.”
The above post can be seen here. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the post, and found it to be fake.
Running a Reverse Image Search, the NM team spotted the video, which was originally posted by a verified Instagram page — SanskritSparrow — dated June 6, 2024. The caption accompanying the video, last edited on June 8, states: “The above content is a dubbed voice-over. This was not announced on any flight. This does not have anything to do with @akasaair management (sic).” The page is managed by Samashti Gubbi, who frequently shares content and translations in Sanskrit.
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It has been also clarified by Akasa Air that the viral video depicting an in-flight announcement in Sanskrit is false. The airline has commented on its official account X about the post containing the video before its deletion. They have clarified that their inflight announcements are conducted in Hindi and English, and the video in question appears to be a dubbed creation shared without authorisation. Similarly, Akasa Air’s official Instagram account commented on the reel from SanskritSparrow, reiterating this clarification.
Newsmobile contacted Gubbi on Instagram. She confirmed, “The video clips in the reel were randomly captured by me while I was in Akasa Air. Then I did a dubbed voice of announcements in Sanskrit . It is not a collaboration with Akasa Air or any flight. ,” and added that she had recorded the video herself. Her original caption read, “What’s your favourite announcement? Mine is: Thank you for choosing us.” She modified the caption after users in the comments mistakenly believed it was a real in-flight announcement.
Sanskrit, an ancient language belonging to the Indo-European language family, is spoken by about 25,000 individuals in India.
In 2018, the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation recommended that airlines consider using local languages for in-flight announcements when feasible. However, airline executives indicated practical challenges due to India’s diverse linguistic landscape.
Therefore, the claim that Akasa Airlines made an in-flight announcement in Sanskrit is fake.
