”My team and I at JetSetGo, look forward to improving the overall standard of domestic business aviation”

We announced some good news earlier in April this yeasr, for consumers in the business aviation market. As the demand for non-scheduled and private flights swell, My team and I at JetSetGo, India’s largest private jet operator, look forward to improving the overall standard of domestic business aviation, which currently requires the implementation of a coherent and extensible demand-supply chain to sustain its growth, through what we believe is a groundbreaking development for the industry.

Announcing our acquisition of Indo Pacific Aviation, India’s oldest non-scheduled aircraft operator, we look to further streamline India’s private aviation industry and cater to the rising demand of private and business fliers across the country. Our business analysts have stated that the deal is predicted to further propel the nation’s aviation industry and promises to cement India’s position in the global market.

Indo Pacific Aviation, credited by many in the industry for being a pioneering force in the Indian private aviation market, was the first business charter operator to engineer a dynamic transportation system to address the needs of the market and has been instrumental in its growth. The company has far too many firsts to its credit and we are excited that this acquisition brings together the values of the old with the dynamism of the young, giving us a significant boost to our ability to grow our fleet and offer our customers unique services and next generation aircrafts for personalised on-demand mobility.

We truly believe that this acquisition will prove to be an excellent synergistic fit. Though JetSetGo was only established in 2014, we have rapidly grown to become the largest market shareholder in the national private aviation industry in a short span of four years. Our swift expansion is the result of a flexible business model that constantly evolves to suit the market’s requirements; From initially being conceived as a pure aggregation platform to connect owners and/or operators of private jets with potential customers, we have, for some time now, unfolded into what many would call a private airline, managing (maintaining, marketing, and operating) aircrafts and helicopters on behalf of owners to provide much better value to both owners and customers within the market. However, these processes are typically completed through the companies that own aircrafts within our network, as they hold non-scheduled operator permits from the DGCA. This has, to some extent, increased the complexity and costs of running our business model.

“JetSetGo has always focused on boosting overall growth rates in the domestic civil aviation market and framing an increased focus on innovative transportation forms such as hybrid electric planes, flying taxis, and disruptive transport models. The key objective of our acquisition, hence, was to design and build the future of flying - today.”

To simplify this, whilst we could have applied for our own non-scheduled operator permit from DGCA, Indo Pacific Aviation which has such a permit came to our notice to be a company that we could explore deeper strategic partnership discussions with. In addition to their strong legacy and credentials, they have an existing fleet (1 helicopter and 1 aircraft), generate stable revenues (in the range of 18 to 20 crore per annum) and stable net margins (12 to 15 per cent), and is professionally run with pragmatic promoters. Therefore, discussions were initiated during the course of 2017, following which all parties saw the immense value in an outright acquisition. Once financial valuations were agreed upon, we spent a good part of the last few months securing government approval from the DGCA and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) prior to finally completing the transaction. The success of this acquisition would not have been possible without the experienced leadership of our very own Arun Lohiya, The President of Fleet Management at JetSetGo. Lohiya, who has over 18 years of experience in the aviation industry, will be spearheading this new venture.

With the acquisition now complete, we have far stronger competencies and a solid foundation to consolidate our position as a market leader and better aggregate the available private aviation fleet within the country. Additionally, we are able to capitalise on the potential to bring in smaller, new generation fuel and cost efficient aircrafts into the country for greater point-to-point connectivity. The acquisition thus brings us closer to an integral part of our vision: JetSetGo has always focused on boosting overall growth rates in the domestic civil aviation market and framing an increased focus on innovative transportation forms such as hybrid electric planes, flying taxis, and disruptive transport models. The key objective of our acquisition, hence, was to design and build the future of flying - today. Due to our adaptable, effective, consistent, and cost-effective air connectivity, with 2,800 aircraft movements executed in the last financial year alone, we can now expect more flexibility in managing our own fleet. Therefore, JetSetGo will be able to augment our customer experience, fleet management, and other aviation support services to better cater to the emerging demands of the business aviation market.