Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) V.K Singh today inaugurated the First Flight of Akasa Air (QP1101) from Mumbai to Ahmedabad virtually.
Shri Scindia along with MoS, Ministry of Civil Aviation, General (Dr.) VK Singh (Retd.) and Shri Rajiv Bansal, Secretary MoCA flagged off the first flight of Akasa Air from Delhi which took off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (T1) in Mumbai on Sunday, August 07, at 10:05 AM. Smt. Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA, Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Founder Akasa Air, Mrs Rekha Jhunjhunwala and Mr Vinay Dube, CEO and founder, Akasa Air, Neelu Khatri Co-Founder and Senior Vice President Akasa Air were also present in the event.
Speaking at the event, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said “The inaugural flight today is a new dawn in the history of Civil Aviation in India. It is because of the foresightedness and visionary goal and zeal of the Prime Minister that we have seen first time in India, the democratisation of civil aviation. Earlier it was an industry which was considered very elitist, but now because of his vision, we are seeing a transformation over the last eight years in terms of accessibility, availability affordability and inclusion in Civil Aviation which we have never seen before. In this new environment, I would like to welcome Akasa Air and I am very confident that in the coming days Akasa Air will certainly make a very important mark.”
The Minister further added, “Over the last eight years India’s Civil Aviation industry has been completely transformed. Under UDAN scheme, we have 425 routes aiming to go up to1000 routes, 68 new airports aiming to touch 100 airports. In the next 4 years, we are expecting 40 crore travellers through Civil Aviation in India. That day is not far when along with rail transport and road transport Civil Aviation will become the bulwark of the transportation in India.”
Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Gen) Dr V.K Singh (Retd) also congratulated Akasa Air. A video message of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis was also shared virtually.
Akasa Air is the 7th schedule airline with the brand name of SNV Aviation having Corporate Headquarters in Mumbai with Boeing Max – 8 aircraft. Akasa Air plans to be a low-cost carrier with a single fleet and all economy seats. Akasa Air is planning to expand its activities to 72 aircraft in the next five years which will significantly enhance the domestic aviation services in India.