Akasa Air opens bookings for flights starting August 7

New Delhi, July 22: India's newest airline, Akasa Air is set to launch its first commercial flight on August 7 by operating its first service on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route using a Boeing 737 Max plane.

In a statement, the carrier said it has opened ticket sales on 28 weekly flights it will be operating on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route from August 7, as well as on 28 weekly flights it will operating on Bengaluru-Kochi route from August 13.

The carrier will launch commercial operations with two 737 Max aircraft. Boeing has delivered one Max plane and the second one's delivery is scheduled to take place later this month.

Praveen Iyer, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air, said, "We kick-start operations with flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, with the brand-new Boeing 737 Max aircraft."

"We will adopt a phased approach to support our network expansion plans, progressively connecting more cities, as we add two aircraft to our fleet each month, in our first year," he added.

The carrier had on July 7 received its air operator certificate (AOC) from aviation regulator DGCA. With the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) giving its green light to Max planes in August 2021, Akasa Air signed a deal with Boeing on November 26 last year to purchase 72 Max aircraft.

The company recently announced plans to fly 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 across domestic routes in the country, focusing on metro to tier-2 and tier-3 cities.