Domestic carrier Akasa Air places order for four Boeing 737 Max jets

By Valerie Insinna

PARIS (Reuters) -Indian budget carrier Akasa Air has placed an order for four Boeing 737 Max jets, both companies said on Wednesday, the latest in a spate of orders by the country's airlines.

Reuters reported the order, citing a source with direct knowledge, earlier on Wednesday.

Akasa, the newest entrant in the world's fastest-growing aviation market, said in a statement that it was on course to announce another significant three-digit aircraft order by the end of 2023.

Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube told Reuters earlier this year that it would place a "substantially" large order for new narrowbody jets this year.

Earlier on Wednesday, Luxembourg's flag carrier Luxair said it had placed orders for four 737 MAX jets from Boeing, the first purchase of the MAX 7 model by a European airline.

The Paris airshow has been dominated by India, as two of its biggest airlines finalised huge orders on the first two days of the event.

On Tuesday, Air India finalised a huge order for 470 planes from Airbus and Boeing.

The agreement, when sketched out in February, was the largest ever plane deal by number of aircraft. But it was surpassed on day one of the Paris show by Indian rival IndiGo's order for 500 Airbus narrowbody jets.

(Reporting by Valerie Insinna, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Editing by Louise Heavens)