‘Can’t thank Jhunjhunwala enough…’: Akasa Air promises to honour his legacy

“We at Akasa cannot thank Mr. Jhunjhunwala enough for being an early believer in us and putting his trust and faith in us to build a world-class airline. Mr. Jhunjhunwala had an invincible spirit, was deeply passionate about everything Indian and cared greatly for the well-being of our employees and customers. Akasa Air will honour Mr. Jhunjhunwala’s legacy, values and belief in us by striving to run a great airline,” Akasa Air shared.

Akasa Air, which took to the skies just a week ago, will honour the legacy, values and beliefs of its late billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala by striving to operate a “great airline”, according to its chief Vinay Dube.

“Conceived and born in 12 months”, Akasa Air’s identity even before it started flying has been much associated with Jhunjhunwala, one of the backers of the venture. In the high growth potential and increasingly competitive Indian civil aviation space, the trajectory of Akasa Air, which started off its first flight on August 7 on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, will be closely watched, news agency PTI report said.

Dube, founder and CEO at Akasa Air, said, “We are deeply saddened by the untimely demise of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala this morning.” He also mentioned about the billionaire investor being an early believer in the team and putting his trust and faith in them to build a world-class airline. As condolence messages pour in following the demise of Jhunjhunwala, known as the ‘Big Bull’ and ‘Warren Buffett of India’ for his investment acumen, Akasa Air will miss him much in terms of strategic guidance, the report said.

Though he was not associated with the day-to-day affairs of Akasa Air, the fact that the 62-year-old investor had put in the money had itself given the much-needed tailwind for the airline. It was also the first scheduled domestic carrier to be launched in India in nearly a decade, the report said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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