India's newest airline Akasa Air will launch commercial flight operations on August 7 by operating its first service on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route using Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
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.
Weekly Bangalore service from Kochi to touch 100
Akasa Air announced that they will operate 28 services in the Bangalore-Kochi-Bangalore sector from August 13 offering two flights daily. Kochi topped the list of Akasa’s first phase of operation which will see 56 flights catering to Kochi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore.
Of the two daily services, the first one will arrive from Bangalore at 8.30 am and return at 9.05 am. The second flight will be arriving at 12.30 pm and returning at 1.10 pm the same day. With the commencement of Akasa’s operation, Kochi airport will see 99 departures to Bangalore alone in a week. Currently, IndiGo, AirAsia, GoFirst, and Alliance Air are operating in the sector.
CIAL Managing Director S. Suhas IAS said that CIAL is happy that Kochi Airport has been chosen for the first phase of the Akasa’s service in India. “ The efforts taken by Hon. Chairman and board of the directors to bring in more airlines have started producing results. Many airlines have already chosen Kochi for starting their international services. CIAL hopes that Kochi airport can facilitate more services to all major cities in India in the upcoming winter schedule and we have mooted plans for that “ Suhas added
As per the summer schedule came into effect from April CIAL has been handling 1,190 aircraft movements per week. The airport operator hopes that the traffic will grow at par with the pre- pandemic level by the end of current year.