By Aditi Shah and Rishika Sadam

HYDERABAD (Reuters) -India’s Akasa Air mentioned on Thursday it has ordered 150 Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX narrowbody planes, showcasing its confidence within the troubled planemaker because the finances service seeks to fly to extra locations at dwelling and overseas.

That is the primary main order announcement for Boeing’s MAX jetliner programme since a mid-air cabin panel blowout in the US early this month, though Akasa’s order doesn’t embody the 737 Max 9 model which is within the highlight after the incident.

The order was introduced on the “Wings India” air present within the southern metropolis of Hyderabad, which has attracted planemakers, airways and authorities officers as they profit from India’s journey growth, with a better concentrate on worldwide routes.

“We really feel very assured in regards to the plane sort that we have … even seeing Boeing’s dedication to the way in which they’ve dealt with this drawback,” Priya Mehra, Akasa’s chief authorized, regulatory and strategic relations officer, advised Reuters.

Akasa’s order for 737 MAX 10 and MAX 8-200 doesn’t embody the MAX 9 model, which has been largely grounded over the Alaska Airways cabin panel blowout incident.

Mehra mentioned the airline was not taking a look at diversifying its fleet. It at present operates 22 plane and can obtain deliveries of a complete of 204 planes over eight years.

Additional phrases of the Boeing deal weren’t disclosed.

Reuters was first to report the main points of Akasa’s order earlier this month.

Though India is now the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, with journey demand outstripping the availability of planes, the majority of worldwide site visitors is captured by world carriers similar to Emirates.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia mentioned he expects the nation’s fleet measurement to surge to 2,000 within the subsequent decade from about 700 at present.

At current, IndiGo, Air India and Akasa have orders pending for greater than 1,500 planes, with multi-billion greenback offers introduced final yr.

Because it began flying in 2022, Akasa has garnered a market share of 4%, whereas greater rival IndiGo has the most important share at 60% and Tata Group airways have a mixed 26%.

Akasa plans to fly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar within the first part of its worldwide enlargement, Praveen Iyer, its chief industrial officer advised Reuters.

The most recent entrant to the Indian aviation trade was hit final yr by the abrupt departure of a few tenth of its pilots, and had warned it was flying much less consequently, costing it market share. It has since mentioned the problem is behind it.