The first 737-8-200

A milestone in Akasa Air’s short history took place in 2023: the arrival of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8-200.

On July 15th, 2023, at 10:08 local time, the first flight of the Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 with serial number 63870 departed from Seattle Boeing Field. The aircraft was originally scheduled to be delivered to VietJet Air’s fleet but ended up joining Akasa Air. Two weeks later, operating as flight QP9520, it began its journey to India, finally landing in Bengaluru on August 1st, 2023, at 04:02 local time.

Akasa Air became the first operator of the Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 in Asia, and one of the first worldwide. Launched in 2019, the 737 MAX 8-200 has a maximum capacity of up to 210 passengers, with the Indian low-cost airline opting for 197 seats.

This high-capacity Boeing 737 MAX 8 offers 16% lower fuel consumption compared to previous Boeing 737 MAX models, as well as the rest of the Boeing 737 family. It has two additional emergency exits on each side in order to fulfill international evacuation regulations.

After operating two flights within India on August 9th and 22nd—from Bengaluru to Hyderabad and from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, respectively—Akasa Air’s first 737 MAX 8-200, with registry VT-YAV, began commercial service on August 28th with flight QP1323 between Bengaluru and Guwahati, an Indian city located in the north of the country, a few kilometers from the border with Bhutan.

A year later, the airline still had a Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 in its fleet, to which it added two more aircraft of this model in 2024, following the acquisition of the aircraft registered as VT-YBB and VT-YBC in September and October of that year, respectively.

The main expansion

Akasa Air added five more Boeing 737 MAX 8-200s in 2025, but its main fleet expansion is taking place this year. In the first half of 2026, it has received nine Boeing 737 MAX 8-200s, all brand-new from the factory delivered from Seattle Boeing Field.

According to our database, the low-cost carrier now has 40 aircraft in its fleet, including 23 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and 17 Boeing 737 MAX 8-200s, with an average age of four years.

Its main fleet expansion is underway this year, but in 2024, at WINGS India—Asia’s largest civil aviation event, held in Hyderabad—the company announced a historic order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

This order, which consists of Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 and Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft—the largest variants of the Boeing 737 MAX—will allow the airline to continue adding aircraft to its fleet through at least 2032, with deliveries from this order scheduled to commence in 2027.

Akasa Air placed its first order in 2021, when it ordered 72 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, followed by another four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in June 2023. With the order for another 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the airline’s order book now totals 226 aircraft. This means that over the next six years, it plans to add 186 aircraft to its fleet.

Bengaluru and Mumbai are its main hubs in India, where it operates primarily domestic flights and a few international routes. For nearly its first two years, it only served domestic routes, entering the international market on March 28th, 2024, with the Mumbai–Doha service.

Agartala, Ahmedabad, Ayodhya, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Cochin, Darbhanga, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Goa Manohar, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai (BOM), Navi Mumbai, Port Blair, Prayagraj, Pune, Siliguri, Srinagar, and Varanasi are the destinations covered by Akasa Air in India.

Akasa Air routes

For its part, Akasa Air’s international network consists of four Asian countries: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, all served from and to India.

With the arrival of more Boeing 737 MAX 8-200s and the introduction of the Boeing 737 MAX 10, Akasa Air plans to expand its international footprint to Africa and within Asia, with new flights to be operated to/from Delhi, where it currently operates only domestic routes.

New routes

The expansion is focused on the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia, and East Africa, with plans to add more flights to Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, and Kuwait City in the Middle East, and to enter markets such as Singapore, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt. In the short term, the airline will begin flying to Vietnam with the Mumbai-Hanoi route.

Starting September 4th, the low-cost carrier will launch its first route between India and Vietnam, operating four flights a week with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Some flights may be operated with the larger version of the MAX.

Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

• QP 625  Mumbai BOM 05:35 · 12:00 HAN Hanoi
• QP 626  Hanoi HAN 13:30 · 17:10 BOM Mumbai

The Vietnamese capital is connected to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai in India. Air India, IndiGo, VietJet, and Vietnam Airlines operate flights between the two countries, with the two Vietnamese airlines operating on the Hanoi–Mumbai service.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 is currently operated by three airlines around the world, with a total of 245 aircraft in service, all of which can be followed on Flightradar24. Airlines in the United States, Europe, and Asia operate these aircraft, based on our database.

Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft

As for other orders placed for the Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, the Dominican airline Arajet ordered 20 aircraft, along with 15 additional ones. Due to delivery delays, Arajet has not received any 737 MAX 8-200s, although it continues to add Boeing 737 MAX 8s to its fleet, with 16 in service as of this publication.

Cover photo: © Ted_Zhery – JetPhotos (Phuket, Thailand)

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