Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Air Gets NOC From Civil Aviation; Flights May Take Off by 2021 End

Akasa Air flights, in which Rakesh Jhunjhunwala plans a multi-crore investment, will operate on domestic routes and are aiming to take off by the end of 2021.

New Delhi: A brand new Indian airline promoted by billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Akasa Air has just received the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry as well as the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to commence flight operations. Akasa Air flights will operate on domestic routes and are aiming to take off by the end of 2021.

Akasa airlines has been on the anvil since the end of 2020. The new airline, in which Jhunjhunwala plans a multi-crore investment, is likely to opt for an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) and a narrow-body aircraft, to challenge the highly competitive aviation market.

The new airline is being built by the Head of Revenue Management at GoAir Arvind Srinivasan and former Vice President of Jet and former COO of GoAir Pravin Iyer, according to a PressWire18 report.

Apart from Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, former CEO of Jet Airways and GoAir, Vinay Dubey, and former IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh will play a key role in the ambitious target. Talks are also on with a foreign investor, the report said.

As per the plan so far, Akasa airlines will be based out of Bengaluru and operate on routes including Bengaluru-Mumbai, Bengaluru-Chennai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad among others.

Jhunjhunwala has in the past shown keen interest in the airline industry. The veteran investor had more than 1 per cent stake in Spicejet. He also held about one per cent stake in Jet Airways.

Jhunjhunwala is known for making remarkable big bets, and there is no doubt that this mega-investment, if it happens, will attract eyeballs after the rough patch that has hit the aviation industry due to Covid-19.