Akasa Air’s first Boeing plane lands at IGI airport

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-promoted Akasa Air on Tuesday obtained its first airplane from American aerospace firm Boeing.

Boeing’s 737 Max plane, which flew from Seattle, touched down at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi this morning.

“The delivery of Akasa Air’s first aircraft brings the airline closer to obtaining its Air Operator’s Permit (AOP), which is required for it to launch commercial operations in the country,” Akasa Air stated in a press release.

Akasa Air, which can be backed by aviation veterans Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh, had signed a take care of aerospace large Boeing to buy 72 MAX planes final yr in November. The low-cost provider is anticipating the supply of 18 plane by March subsequent yr and the remaining 54 aeroplanes by 2026.

The airline, final August, obtained a no-objection certificates from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in August 2021 to launch industrial flight operations.

Akasa has earlier introduced the launch of its operations from the mid of 2022 onwards. However, no official date has been set up to now.

The firm is eying the world’s third-largest aviation market  that’s quickly rising with a number of airways providing low fare tickets and air connectivity rising with new routes and airports.

For Boeing, a $9 billion take care of Akasa Air means regaining misplaced floor in India as its European rival  Airbus will likely be delivering a whole bunch of plane to price range carriers IndiGo and GoAir, along with Vistara.

The firm suffered big losses after its 737 Max — the latest member of Boeing’s 737 narrow-body household — was grounded in a number of nations, together with China and India.  In October 2018, the 737 Max crashed within the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. Later, in March 2019, one other plane of the identical mannequin crashed in Ethiopia. Both these accidents killed a complete of 346 folks.