Indian billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed private airline Akasa Air has now got the air operator certificate (AOC or licence) from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and will begin flying by the month end. With Indian aviation veterans like Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh on board, Akasa will soon have two Boeing 737 MAX and then start commercial operations.
Among big/upcoming airlines, Akasa will be the fifth Indian budget carrier after IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoFirst, AirAsia India and Air India Express. Overall, it will be the eighth (big) airline of India apart from full-service Air India and Vistara and regional carrier Alliance Air, which is the only government-owned fixed-wing airline now.
After Jet airways stopped its operations a few years later, the restart of Jet 2.0 had got its AOC on May 20, but it is yet to place an aircraft order. Jet 2.0’s real and sustainable revival rests completely on Jalan-Kalrock’s ability and willingness to infuse significant amounts of funds regularly in it and bear losses for the first few years.
Akasa founder-CEO Vinay Dube said, “We are extremely thankful to the ministry of civil aviation and the DGCA for their constructive guidance, throughout the AOC process. We now look forward to our flights by late July. ”
