Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Airlines is looking to start operation in India by the summer of 2022, according to the the company . The later has received the NoC from the Aviation Ministry. SNV Aviation Pvt Ltd will fly under the brand name Akasa Air and Vinay Dube will be the CEO, reported CNBC- TV 18.
The low-cost airline promoted by former Jet Airways chief executive officer Vinay Dube will now approach the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for its Air Operator’s Permit.
“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, now CEO of Akasa Air said in a press release.
Akasa Air and three other airline companies had applied for no-objection certificates from the ministry of civil aviation to start scheduled air passengers services and air cargo services in August.
According to reports, Akasa Air is in talks with Boeing and Airbus for buying aircraft. Earlier on July 28, reports emerged that Jhunjhunwala was planning on having 70 planes in four years for a new airline venture that he has decided to back.
Jhunjhunwala is expected to own nearly 40 percent of the stake in the new airline and is considering investing $35 million in the venture.
Former President of domestic carrier Indigo, Aditya Ghosh will be co-founder of Akasa, along with Jhunjhunwala and former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube.
Apart from Jhunjhunwala, other investors include Airbnb and Par Capital Management – which has interests in US ULCC Sun Country Airlines. Other key posts at Akasa will see former Jet Airways senior VP Praveen Iyer take up COO role, while former GoAir revenue management VP Anand Srinivasan will be CTO, and former Jet flight operations VP Floyd Gracious is likely to have a similar role. Industry veteran Neelu Khatri is being billed as head of corporate affairs.
