On a Different Plane Altogether

Currently, there are over 70 private jets in India. Bombardier Learjet, the world’s first company to get into the private jet market, set up operations in Mumbai earlier this year. The company which sold about 270 planes worldwide in 2005 has already sold four jets in Delhi and Mumbai since February this year.
But increasingly, it’s not just the Ambanis or Birlas who own planes. Several smaller industrialists are soaring to the skies in their own jets. Take Karan Singh, 31, who is passionate about aviation. A pilot with over 5,000 hours of flying experience, Singh has teamed up with two Delhi based industrialists to buy a Citation 3 (Rs 80 crore) and a Gulfstream aircraft (Rs 70 crore). They’ve bought the planes for easy mobility since their businesses are abroad and are working out how to share the aircraft between them.
There are cheaper alternatives too. Jayant Avasthi, 36, is in the interiors business in Allahabad and has recently bought a two-seater Microlight plane that costs under Rs 50 lakh.
For those who want the luxury of flying private but can’t afford a whole plane, there’s the fractional ownership model promoted by Delhi-based Club One Air.
03/09/06 Leher Kala/Indian Express

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