Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-owned Akasa Air gets airline license from DGCA

The Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the country’s aviation regulator will make it the eighth domestic airline, not counting regional airlines.

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.”

It will start commercial operations later this month. The grant of the AOC marks the satisfactory completion of all regulatory and compliance requirements for the airline’s operational readiness, Akasa Air said in a statement.

The process concluded with the airline having successfully conducted a number of proving flights under the supervision of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), it added.

“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.

Following the government’s initiative to usher in a new era of digitisation, Akasa Air is the first airline whose end-to-end AOC process was conducted using the government’s progressive eGCA digital platform, the airline said.

According to the airline, it will commence commercial operations later this month with two aircraft and subsequently add planes to its fleet every month.

By the end of the fiscal year 2022-23, the airline will have 18 aircraft and thereafter, will add 12-14 aircraft every 12 months. This will make up its order of 72 aircraft to be delivered over a period of five years, it said.

Last November, Akasa Air announced ordering 72 ‘737 Max’ aircraft from Boeing. The order includes two variants from the 737 MAX family — 737-8 and 737-8-200.

“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 is set to enter a market marked by cut-throat competition and high cost structure. Among others, it will grapple with IndiGo which controls close to 60% of India’s domestic air traffic, the Tata group, the new owners of Air India which are planning to fast expand it with hundreds of new airplanes and a resurrected Jet Airways raring to find it lost glory.

(With bureau inputs)