Akasa Air, the Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed airline, is all set to roll out its commercial operations from June, CEO Vinay Dube has said here.

Speaking at an interactive session on the sidelines of Wings India 2022, Dube said the airline hopes to have a fleet of 72 aircraft in the next five years.

“We hope to launch our first commercial flight in the month of June. We are working very closely with the ministry of civil aviation, DGCA to get our licensing done,” he said.

He said the airline plans to have 18 aircraft on ground as part of its fleet within 12 subsequent months of launching and then add 12 to 14 every year, making it 72 in five years.

“We are very excited and want to serve a number of people with warmth and affection and kindness,” he said.

To begin with, Akasa Air will have services from metros to Tier II and III cities. There will also be flights from metros to metros so that the aircraft is moved around the system, the CEO had earlier said.

Dube had said the airline hopes to start overseas flights in the second half of calendar year 2023 once there are 20 planes in its fleet. In October, the airlines got its no-objection certificate for the operations from the ministry of civil aviation.