India based Akasa Air is said to be in talks with the Boeing Company to place a small follow-on order for 737 Max single-aisle jets as soon as it licks down financing, according to people well versed with the matter. The US plane maker is working to make concrete negotiations as soon as this week at the Paris Air Show, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are confidential.
Funding might serve as a roadblock after the death of Akasa’s billionaire founder and the failure of indian Go Airlines. There is still no assurity whether this contract is bound to happen or not or if an agreement can be struck. Akasa may order a bevy of 10 or fewer aircrafts, one of the sources familiar with the matter said. Whereas, a Boeing representative declined to comment. Akasa, which is India’s newest aviation player, began flying just over a year ago. The carrier has received 20 of the 72 Max jets which it has already ordered. In March, Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube said the low-cost carrier would place a three-digit order for more aircraft by year-end. Since then, Go Airlines’ insolvency has made aircraft lessors wary of further exposure to the market.
India’s studded cutthroat aviation industry is seeing hefty orders from newly-privatized Air India Ltd., and market leader IndiGo is expected to double its jet backlog with a 500-plane order at the show. Akasa’s Founder, billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, died this August, raising questions about the airline’s future funding issues.
