In November 2021, at the Dubai Airshow, Indian startup no-frills carrier Akasa Air, founded by aviation veteran Vinay Dube and backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, placed its first aircraft order of 72 737 MAX Aircraft in the regular and dense configurations. The initial aircraft are supposed to come from the lot of aircraft that Boeing assembled for other airlines. Still, they did not take deliveries (because of the pandemic, their own financial situation, or the clock ran out while Boeing’s 737 MAX was grounded).

Boeing delivers the first 737 MAX to Akasa Air.

Ex-IndiGo president and Akasa Air co-founder had been camping in Seattle for a few days now, and it turns out he was there for the delivery of the first aircraft. Akasa Air today got delivery of their first 737 MAX aircraft, registered VT-YAA in India, from Boeing.

In presence were Ed Clark (Vice President 737 programme, Boeing), Priya Mehra (General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Akasa Air), Suresh Kumar (General Manager – EIS & AOC Process, Akasa Air), Ihssane Mounir (Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, Boeing), Capt. Kunal Khajuria (Senior Captain, Akasa Air), Aditya Ghosh (Co-Founder, Akasa Air), Daniel Saldana (VP – Maintenance & Engineering, Akasa Air),  Marc Baer (President, Griffin Asset Management), Mike Lombardi (Vice President, Marketing, Griffin Asset Management) and Salil Gupte (President, Boeing India).

Akasa Air has a total order of 72 aircraft, including an initial delivery of 18 aircraft by March 2023, followed by delivery of the remaining 54 aircraft over the next four years.

Commenting on the successful delivery, Vinay Dube – Founder, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Akasa Air, issued a media statement,

This is indeed a symbolic milestone in the journey of Akasa Air, bringing us one step closer to the process of obtaining our Air Operator’s Permit (AOP) and leading to our commercial launch. While we are extremely happy with this achievement, we want to keep ourselves focussed on the task of delivering on our vision to transform India’s air transportation ecosystem, support the nation’s economic growth engine and help fellow Indians chase their dreams.

Just last week, Griffin Global Asset Management, a global aircraft leasing company, announced that they would do the sale and leaseback of the first five Boeing 737-8 aircraft for Akasa Air.

The aircraft will soon start its journey from Seattle and is expected to land in Delhi on June 21, 2022, after a multi-leg journey. The airline plans to launch operations by July 2022.

Bottomline

The process of getting Akasa Air into the Indian skies has come one step closer, with Akasa Air receiving its first aircraft from Boeing. This aircraft will be used for getting the Air Operators Permit of the airline, a process Jet Airways just underwent, and after that, the airline can start regular operations.

What do you think will be the timeline for the first flight of Akasa Air?

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