First pictures of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed Akasa Air released

New Delhi, May 23: Akasa Air backed by billionaire Rajkesh today tweeted pictures of its new aircraft and said that it is on track to launch operations by July.

The airline released photographs of its first Boeing 737 Max plane from its production facility in Portland, US.

The airline recently said it is committed to being on track to receive its first aircraft in India by mid-June and launch commercial operations by July 2022. It is also plans to fly 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 across domestic routes in the country. The focus would be on the metro to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, the airlines noted.

The Mumbai-based airline, registered as SNV Aviation, received the mandatory no-objection certificate from the civil aviation ministry in October last year.

Once the aircraft is inducted, then the airline has to conduct a set of successful proving flights.

"Their (Akasa Air) aircraft delivery is delayed and it is expected to come around June /July. As far as other procedures are concerned, they all are on track," the DGCA official told PTI.

When contacted, Akasa Air said it was expecting to get the first aircraft by mid-June and intends to commence commercial operations in July.

"We expect our first aircraft delivery by mid-June 2022. The first aircraft will help us with our operating permit and the proving flights will be held as per regulatory requirements prior to the AOP (Air Operator Permit) receipt," Akasa Air Founder, Managing Director Vinay Dube said in a statement to PTI.

He also said the airline intends to start commercial operations in July 2022 and is on course for later aircraft inductions to fly 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023.

A proving flight, which may originate from one airport and fly to another airport, is part of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's process for the induction of a new aircraft type in an airline's fleet. It consists of five sectors (legs) with a total block time of 10 hours or more.

This may include one diversion to an enroute alternate airport or a destination.