NEW DELHI, Jan. 19: India's newest airline, Akasa Air, said Thursday it has ordered 150 Boeing 737 MAX planes as it looks to bolster its fleet and kick off international operations.
The deal is a shot in the arm for US aviation giant Boeing, which is under intense global scrutiny over its 737 MAX 9 jet, after a scare on an Alaska Airlines jet in early January when a panel came off mid-flight and forced an emergency landing.
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Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube said the "historic" order for 737 MAX 10 and 737 MAX 8-200 jets would put the carrier on the path to "becoming one of the top 30 leading airlines in the world".
Akasa has been a strong Boeing backer, having ordered 72 aircraft in 2021, and another four in 2023, and Dube said Akasa's growth illustrates the "promise that India holds as an aviation market".
But the order does not include Boeing's MAX 9 aircraft involved in the Alaska Airline scare. No Indian airline uses the Boeing MAX 9 plane. The country's aviation regulator said two weeks ago that its check of the 737 8 MAX aircraft had been completed satisfactorily.
