When Akasa Air took to the skies: From inside the first Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight

On August 7 India got a new airline - Akasa Air. The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed airline operated its maiden flight on Sunday on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route.

The flight was inaugurated by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia along with MoS General (Retd) Vijay Kumar Singh.



Mumbai Airport organized a grand ceremony to celebrate the launch of the airline. It started with a welcome address by Founder & CEO of Akasa Air), Vinay Dube, followed by a cake-cutting function.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who was present at the Mumbai airport, said in his speech: "I must thank you (Scindia) because people say that India has a very very bad bureaucracy, but the cooperation that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has given us, it is unbelievable."


In a pleasant surprise to many, he also later boarded the flight.


Many passengers shared their videos and photos of Akasa's first flight on Twitter. A lucky passenger also managed to get a selfie with the Big Bull.


On July 22, India's newest airline Akasa Air opened ticket bookings for its first commercial flights with an initial network in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kochi. In the inaugural phase, Akasa Air, whose airline code is QP, will offer 28 weekly flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Subsequently, starting August 13, the airline will start operating an additional 28 weekly flights between Bengaluru and Kochi. Tickets for all are open for sale.