Airlines Launched By India’s Richest Private Investor Gets License To Fly: Akasa Airlines Will Now Start Soon

On July 7, Akasa Air received the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from aviation regulator DGCA and will start commercial operations later this month.

Before taking a deep dive into the story lets see what exactly we mean by AOC and who is DGCA.

Air Operator Certificate (AOC) & Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

It is the grant that is given by the civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This certificate ensures that the aircraft operator hence things in place, by things we mean personnel, assets, and system in place to ensure the safety of everyone. 

The certificate includes the details like list the aircraft types, and registrations to be used, for what purpose and in what area – specific airports or geographic region.

If AOC is granted, it means that all regulatory and compliance requirements for the airline’s operational readiness are complete.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is a statutory body of the Government of India headquartered along Sri Aurobindo Marg, opposite Safdarjung Airport, in New Delhi to regulate civil aviation in India. It was under the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 that it became a statutory body. The body investigates aviation accidents and incidents, maintains all regulations related to aviation and is responsible for issuance of licenses pertaining to aviation like PPL’s, SPL’s and CPL’s in India. 

The Government of India is planning to replace the organisation with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), modelled on the lines of the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

A number of proving flights under the supervision of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) were concluded.

First delivery of Boeing 737 max aircraft was taken by the Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed airline. 

Vinay Dube, founder-chief executive officer of Akasa Air, said “We are thankful to the Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA for their constructive guidance, active support and the highest levels of efficiency throughout the AOC process. We now look forward to opening our flights for sale, leading to the start of commercial operations by late July”.

First Airline to Get End to End Digital AOC

The airline said that Akasa Air is the first airline whose end-to-end AOC process was conducted using the government’s progressive eGCA digital platform. This comes after the government’s initiative to usher in a new era of digitization. 

With two aircraft and subsequently add planes to its fleet every month the commercial operations will be commenced. 

Over a period of 5 years the airline shall add 72 aircraft. By the end of the fiscal year 2022-23, the airline will have 18 aircraft and thereafter, will add 12-14 aircraft every 12 months.

Last November, Akasa Air announced ordering 72 ‘737 Max’ aircraft from Boeing. The order includes two variants from the 737 MAX family – 737-8 and 737-8-200.