The DGCA issued a flying license to Akasa Airlines, which is owned by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, on Thursday. It will become the eighth domestic airline, excluding regional carriers after it receives the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the nation’s aviation regulator.
Later this month, it will begin conducting commercial activities. According to a statement from Akasa Air, receiving the AOC signifies that all regulatory and compliance requirements for the airline’s operational readiness have been satisfactorily met. The airline completed several proving flights with the help of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) towards the end of the process, it added.
The airline services tweeted, “We are pleased to announce the receipt of our Air Operator Certificate (AOC). This is a significant milestone, enabling us to open our flights for sale and leading to the start of commercial operations.”
Akasa Air is the first airline whose end-to-end AOC procedure was carried out utilizing the government’s advanced GCA digital platform, the airline said. This follows the government’s goal to usher in a new era of digitization.
The airline claims that it would launch its commercial operations with two aircraft later this month and gradually expand its fleet each month. The airline will have 18 aircraft by the end of the fiscal year 2022–2023 and will then add 12–14 aircraft every 12 months after that. This will complete its order of 72 aircraft, which will be delivered over five years, it said.
“We are thankful to the Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA for their constructive guidance, active support, and the highest levels of efficiency throughout the AOC process. We now look forward to opening our flights for sale, leading to the start of commercial operations by late July,” Vinay Dube, Founder-Chief Executive Officer of Akasa Air, said.
“We now look forward to opening our flights for sale, leading to the start of commercial operations by late July. This will begin our journey towards building India’s greenest, most dependable, and most affordable airline,” he added.
“We expect to fly around 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 with an employee strength of close to 2000 employees,” said Dube.
Akasa Air announced its purchase of 72 Boeing ‘737 Max’ planes in November of last year. Two 737 MAX family variants—the 737-8 and 737-8-200—are part of the deal. Akasa is about to enter a market with fierce competition and expensive costs.
The Tata group, the new owners of Air India who intend to rapidly expand it with hundreds of new airplanes, and a revived Jet Airways eager to regain its lost glory are just a few of the competitors it will have to contend with. IndiGo, which controls nearly 60% of India’s domestic air traffic, is another.
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