Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air to fly from summer 2022

• Reportedly, Jhunjhunwala has invested ₹247.50 crore in the airline and is expected to own nearly 40% stake in the new airline.
• Industry veterans Aditya Ghosh, former president of domestic carrier Indigo and former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube are working together to kickstart the airline by next summer.
• Akasa is the brand name of SNV Aviation.

India’s aviation industry is getting hotter day by day. The government has reportedly given a go ahead to Akasa Air, which is backed by marquee investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, to start its operations.

Last week, one of India’s biggest conglomerates, Tata Sons, had bought national carrier Air India from the government.

As per reports, Jhunjhunwala has invested ₹247.50 crore in the airline and is expected to own nearly 40% stake in the new airline.

Industry veterans Aditya Ghosh, former President at Indigo will be a co-founder of Akasa Air, along with Jhunjhunwala and Vinay Dube, former chief executive officer (CEO) at Jet Airways.

“A number of airlines in India went bust because they did not have the right leadership. This is not the case with Akasa Air, which is led by industry veterans such as Dube and Ghosh. There is buoyancy in the market, which the airline can capitalise upon. Jet Airways' closure created room for a new pan India airline and Akasa Air could get the first mover advantage,” said aviation expert Manoj Chacko to Business Standard.

According to reports, Akasa Air is in talks with Boeing and Airbus for buying aircraft. Reports say Jhunjhunwala is planning to have 70 planes in four years for the new airline venture.

Akasa is the brand name of SNV Aviation. Akasa will be in close competition with Indigo as it seeks to follow an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) model in India that is currently dominated by IndiGo.

The low-cost airline has secured the crucial no-objection certificate (NOC) from the civil aviation ministry and expects to start operations next summer of 2022.

“We are extremely happy and grateful to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for their support and for the grant of the NOC. We will continue to work with the regulatory authorities on all additional compliances required to successfully launch Akasa Air,” Dube, CEO of Akasa Air said in a press release.

Reportedly, Akasa Air and three other airline companies had applied for no-objection certificates from the ministry to start operations.

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