Hyderabad, Jan 19 (IANS): In one of the largest aircraft orders in the history of civil aviation in India, the country's youngest airline Akasa Air has placed an order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX jets for expanding its domestic and international operations.

The order for the narrowbody planes was announced on Thursday at the Wings India air show in Hyderabad.

It is the only Indian airline to reach an order book of over 200 aircraft within 17 months of commencing its operations.

Officials from Akasa Air and Boeing signed the order in the presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In his address, the Union Minister, termed the order the first of its kind in the history of civil aviation of the world.

He mentioned that Akasa Air launched its operations with only two aircraft and increased the fleet to 20 in just 12 months.

It ordered 76 aircraft, of which 22 have been delivered.

Since its launch, Akasa Air has served over 6.3 million passengers.

It connects 18 cities -- Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala, Pune, Lucknow, Goa, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Port Blair, and Ayodhya.