Akasa Air Launch Delayed By A Few Weeks, May Take Off In July

Indigenous Low-cost airline startup, Akasa Air is reportedly going to take a little longer time before taking off. Reports suggest that the airline will begin its operations in the month of July, a month later than the earlier anticipated time. It is taking time for the airline to begin operations as there is a delay in the acquisition of its first aircraft that is yet to receive the Air Operator Certificate (AOC).

As per reports, the Founder, CEO, and Managing Director of Akasa Air, Vinay Dube has confirmed that the newest carrier will start its operations in July as the company will get the delivery of its first aircraft in June. Getting an aircraft will help the airline in getting an operator’s permit that will help it in order to apply for slots at the airports.

Earlier in October 2021, the company had announced that it has received the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It has mentioned in a press release that the company planned to start operations and offer flights across India from the summer of 2022.

Apart from Dube Akasa Air counts ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and former IndiGo chief Aditya Gosh as major investors. The company revealed its brand logo in December 2021 which is ‘The Raising A’. The color of the logo has a mixture of sunrise orange and passionate purple that according to the company signifies ‘warm youthful nature’.

The company had placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 Max planes in November 2021 as it signed a deal with Boeing. However, reportedly the company plans to fly 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023, according to the founder. The reports also suggest that Akasa will initially focus on connecting metro cities to Tier 2 and 3 cities with keeping Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, etc as important hubs.

Akasa was earlier about to get the delivery of aircraft in the second week of April with an aim to start operations from the month of June. Now, the plan of starting with operations has been pushed to July as the company is expecting the aircraft’s delivery by June.

Although amidst the plans of operations and delays, the airline has hired staff members from other airlines the reason being, the company requires trained people in order, to begin with, the operations. It has reportedly hired over 120 flight attendants, 150 pilots, and 20 aircraft engineers.