NEW DELHI: India’s newest airline, Akasa Air, on Wednesday ordered four additional Boeing B737 MAX planes at the ongoing Paris Air Show, taking its total order book to 76 aircraft from 72 earlier.
Besides this fresh order, the company is on track to finalise another significant three-digit aircraft order by the end of the calendar year. Of the 76 planes ordered so far by Akasa, 23 are Boeing 737-8s and 53 are high-capacity 737-8-200 aircraft.
The airline, which started flying in August 2022, has so far received 19 aircraft and the 20th plane is likely to join its fleet next month. After this, the low-cost carrier will work towards starting international operations by the end of 2023.
“Akasa Air set a benchmark in the 120-year history of global aviation by becoming the first airline to reach a fleet size of 19 aircraft in less than a year of operations,” said Vinay Dube, Founder and CEO, Akasa Air.
“We are excited to add four more Boeing 737-8 to support our international expansion, taking our initial order of 72 aircraft to 76 to be delivered in the next four years.
In addition to supporting our rapid domestic expansion, these airplanes allow us to take full advantage of the category-leading 737-8 aircraft with its unparalleled range, as we prepare our foray into international routes,” added Dube. Akasa has now crossed the milestone of operating over 900 weekly flights with a published network of 36 routes connecting 16 cities. Benefitting from the crisis at Go First, Akasa’s share in the domestic market surged to 4.8% in May.