India’s newest airline Akasa Air’s first aircraft has landed in India. The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was hotly awaited by the airline, as much of its further plans are riding on it. Having received a warm reception at Delhi airport, the aircraft will soon be involved in proving flights for the carrier in order to obtain its AOC from the DGCA.
It’s finally arrived!
Perhaps no other aircraft in recent memory was as much awaited in India as Akasa Air’s first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Akasa is the first national-level airline to be launched in the country in years and had been teasing with all the updates about the MAX in the run-up to the delivery.
Finally, the aircraft touched down in New Delhi this morning after flying halfway around the world. Commenting on its arrival, Vinay Dube, Founder, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Akasa Air, said,
“The arrival of our first aircraft is a very happy moment for all of us and marks an important milestone, bringing us closer to our vision of building India’s greenest, most dependable, and most affordable airline."
Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India, also shared his comments on the occasion, saying,
“We are proud to partner with Akasa Air as they embark on their journey towards making air travel inclusive and affordable for all.”
Delivery flight
Akasa has been actively updating its social media profile regarding the delivery of its first MAX. The plane (registered VT-YAA) was handed over to the carrier a few days ago by Boeing in Seattle. Since then, it has embarked on a multi-leg delivery flight halfway across the world with a couple of stopovers in between.
FlightRadar24.com reveals that VT-YAA left Seattle on June 17th for an almost eight-hour journey across Canada and the Atlantic to land in Reykjavik, Iceland, at 10:22 local time. After spending two nights there, it was again ready for its next hop to Larnaca in Cyprus.
On June 19th, the plane departed Reykjavik at 08:18 and landed in Larnaca at 17:48 local time after a journey of 6 hours and 30 minutes. After spending a day in Cyprus, the plane was ready for its home stretch and departed on June 20th at 23:07 local time and arrived this morning in New Delhi at 08:43.
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Busy days ahead
Considering that Akasa plans to start selling tickets around the first week of July and launch operations soon after, the 737 probably won’t rest for long at the airport’s apron. The immediate priority for Akasa now is to get hold of that all-important AOC, which will be issued by India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA, after the carrier performs successful proving flights.
For now, we can only imagine the excitement at Akasa’s corporate office in anticipation of the big launch next month.
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