'Highly confident' Akasa Air to bring 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on board

Akasa Air, which made a debut some 17 months ago, has placed an order for 150 B737 MAX aircraft with American planemaker Boeing. This order — comprising 737 MAX 10 and 737 MAX 8-200 variants — is set to be delivered between mid-2027 and 2032, announced Vinay Dube, chief executive officer of the airline, at the Wings India Summit 2024 in Hyderabad on Thursday.

This is Boeing’s first order since the recent Alaska Airlines incident, where a B737 MAX 9’s emergency exit door plug blew 

out after takeoff, forcing an emergency landing. 
 

Notably, no Indian airlines operate the B737 MAX 9. 

Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air, which operate 32 B737 MAX 8 aircraft, were ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to inspect their planes’ emergency exits, with all checks completed satisfactorily.

When asked about any concerns following the January 5 Alaska Airlines incident, Dube was clear: “No. We don’t have any concerns with that. We do not fly the MAX 9. We fly the MAX 8 (and MAX 8-200)… We are highly confident in what we are flying.”

He noted that only 1 per cent of planes built by Boeing and Airbus have door plugs. “That is a modification. One is that we don’t have the MAX 9 (which has door plugs). Two is that we don’t intend on getting any non-standard modifications done. A MAX 8 is a MAX 8 and that is what we get. When it is a MAX 10, it is going to be a normal MAX 10 with no door plugs,” he added.

In 2021, Akasa Air initially ordered 72 MAX planes from Boeing and then expanded the order to 76 in 2023. Of these, 22 have been delivered, with the remaining 54 due by mid-2027.

Akasa Air's latest order is the third major aircraft order by an Indian aviation firm in the past 12 months. In June 2023, IndiGo placed the world’s largest aircraft order for 500 A320neo family planes with Airbus. In February 2023, the Air India group ordered 470 planes: 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, referring to Akasa Air’s order at the summit, highlighted India’s growing importance in the aviation market. He said: “Today India has become the largest purchaser for aircraft in the world, after the US and China. Therefore, the aircraft fleet in India is going to grow from 730 right now to upwards of 2,000 in the next decade.”

“India had been replete with stories of airlines shutting down. In the past 10 years, under the Prime Minister's growth initiative, we have seen the birth of a new airline in India. An airline that has grown from two planes to 20 in 12 months. An order of 76 aircraft, of which 22 have landed in India, and today an additional order of 150 aircraft -- this is a first in the civil aviation history of the globe,” he further said.

Akasa Air, which began commercial operations in August 2022, added the 20th aircraft to its fleet in August 2023, qualifying it for international flight operations. Indian regulations require carriers to have at least 20 aircraft in their fleet to be eligible for international flights.

Currently, the airline has a fleet size of 22 aircraft, which includes 21 737 Max 8 and one Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft (two separate types of planes). The airline is set to have 25 planes in its fleet by March 2024, Dube said.

According to the Akasa Air CEO, the B737 MAX on order will help the airline in domestic expansion, and the efficiency and economics of these new airplanes shall assist the carrier in launching international routes.

The airline is looking at a mix of destinations, including Southeast Asia, West Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States countries, East Africa, Malé (the Maldives), Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and other countries that can be reached within six hours, Dube had told Business Standard last year.

The airline claims to have served over 6.3 million passengers since the launch of its commercial operations. In 2023, it commanded a domestic market share of 4.1 per cent. It connects 18 cities across India, including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala, and Pune. 

About the new aircraft order, Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer, said: “This milestone demonstrates the strength of our partnership with Akasa Air and is a testament to the capabilities of the 737 MAX family to further the airline’s operational priorities. The efficiency and versatility of the 737-10 and 737-8-200 will support Akasa Air’s expansion to meet soaring demand for air travel in the region for many years to come."