'Airlift' box office collection: Akshay Kumar starrer breaks records in UAE-GCC; opens well in India

Akshay Kumar starrer "Airlift" has opened to terrific response in India as well as in the overseas market. The film, which was released in UAE-GCC on Thursday, has created a record at the box office with its opening day box office collection.

"Airlift" has become Akshay's highest opening day grosser at the UAE-GCC box office. Akshay took to Twitter to confirm that the film was released in about 70 screens in the Middle East on Thursday, and minted approximately AED 900,000 (Rs 1.66 crore) on the first day.

"#Airlift takes UAE and GCC by storm. Collects approx AED 900,000 [₹ 1.66 cr] on Thu. Highest opening day grosser of Akshay Kumar there," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

Raja Menon's directorial film "Airlift" has opened to good occupancy worldwide because of the positive buzz it carried before its release. Not only in the Gulf region, the film has also opened to good response in Indian markets.

The opening day occupancy of "Airlift" at the domestic box office is more than 40 percent in India, with multiplexes dominating over single screens. And as reported earlier, the advance booking showed good occupancy in the evening and night shows.

With positive reviews and good buzz, the film should have an opening of more than Rs 10 crore, but the strong competition from Tusshar Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani starrer "Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3" might take a toll on its box office income.

Directed by Menon, "Airlift" tells the story of the biggest evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait Gulf war. The film features Akshay and Nimrat Kaur in the lead roles, while Feryna Wazheir, Purab Kohli, Lena, Kumud Mishra and Prakash Belawadi are playing the supporting characters.