Akasa Air, the newest airline in India backed by investor Rakesh JhunJhunwala, has received the nod from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to start operations. The airline today informed that is has been granted the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) by the civil aviation regulator in the country.

“We are pleased to announce the receipt of our Air Operator Certificate (AOC). This is a significant milestone, enabling us to open our flights for sale and leading to the start of commercial operations,” Akasa Air said in a tweet.

In a statement, the airline said that the grant of the AOC is the final step of a comprehensive and rigorous process laid down by the DGCA and marks the satisfactory completion of all regulatory and compliance requirements for the airline’s operational readiness. “Following the government’s initiative to usher in a new era of digitisation, Akasa Air is proud to be the first airline whose end-to-end AOC process was conducted using the government’s progressive eGCA digital platform. The process concluded with the airline having successfully conducted a number of proving flights under the supervision of the country’s aviation regulator,” Akasa Air added.