The youngest airline in India, Akasa Air, is all set for take-off in the month of July and aims to open the booking window as soon as early July, Chief Executive Officer, Founder and Managing Director Vinay Dube told CNBC-TV18.
The airline, backed by billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and former President of IndiGo Aditya Ghosh as co-founder, got the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the first half of August 2021 to launch commercial flight operations.
The Mumbai-based airline is expected to undertake its proving flight in a week and an air operator certificate from the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation is expected over the next 15 days.
The airline welcomed its maiden aircraft at Delhi airport today. Akasa Air has placed an order of 72 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, out of which 19 will be MAX-8 with 189 seats and 53 aircraft will be high-capacity Boeing 737 MAX-8-200. There will be a provision of seats with extra leg space and the food menu will be disclosed days ahead of the launch.
"We picked what we think is a fuel-efficient plane. We will have the youngest fleet. MAX has got a pretty good range for international. We should be able to do East Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, Indonesia," Dube told reporters.
The CEO said the Mumbai-based airline, registered as SNV Aviation, targets to start overseas flights in the second half of the calendar year 2023. Under Indian regulations, a domestic airline should have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before it can commence international flights.
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The external environment with respect to rising oil prices and rupee depreciation has not changed "anything" in the plans for Akasa Air and the airline is confident of commencing flights next month with two aircraft.
The airline's fleet is expected to expand to 18 aircraft by the end of the current financial year in March 2023 and by then the employee count could be around 2000, Dube said, adding that so far, around 250 people are already onboard the airline. This also includes around 40-50 pilots. The pilots are expected to receive training for MAX in India.
Akasa Air is also open to agreements with respect to sustainable aviation fuel and is committed in the direction of sustainability, Dube said.
Further, Dube said the airline will train pilots in India simulators and is confident about the Max aircraft as it creates a fuel-efficient fleet, which will also be the youngest among airlines. The low-cost carrier has placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 Max planes.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
First Published: Jun 21, 2022 8:09 PM IST
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