The Indian airline Akasa Air has announced an order for 150 medium-haul Boeing 737-Max jets at the “Wings India” exhibition currently taking place in Hyderabad.

This large order is likely to be particularly important for the US manufacturer, as the Max series has come under renewed criticism due to the recent incident that occurred just a few days ago. While climbing, a B737-Max-9 lost an emergency exit door. The FAA has ordered extensive investigations and a temporary flight ban.

Akasa Air only began flight operations about two years ago. The latest order includes the B737-Max-200, the special low-cost airline variant of the Max-8, and the B737-Max-10. This increases the Indian carrier's order backlog to 226 aircraft. There are currently 22 aircraft from the B737 Max series in use. These are mainly used within India.

Indian airlines have placed some large orders in the last 12 months. For example, Indigo and Air India have ordered numerous aircraft from the manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. There is currently very high demand in the local market, which is also being met with the help of wet lease aircraft. Strong growth is forecast for the next few years. Indian airlines are preparing for this because every provider wants their share of the “pie”.