Fancy flights for Indian businessmen

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But with the economy booming - according to Forbes, the number of dollar billionaires in India has doubled since last year to 27 - there is a growing club of busy businessmen. Last year CluboneAir came into the picture and introduced a fullfledged scheme for fractional ownership. Run by Manav Singh, it started with one Cessna Citation II aircraft, and today has a fleet of eight aircraft. 'We are expanding only because we have received a good response from the market,' says Singh. By next year, his fleet will touch 30, a range including Cessna Citation XLs, Gulfstreams, a Challenger and an ATR 900.

A Cessna Citation II can cost $4.5 million. At CluboneAir, for instance, the acquisition cost of a 100-hour purchase falls to $556,000, about 65 per cent of which is refundable at the end of five years. There is a monthly management cost of $10,000. This pays for all infrastructure and engineering needs. There is a direct operating cost of $1,000 per hour, which includes fuel, landing and parking charges.

Singh says this is much lower when compared to the actual cost of the aircraft, or the cost of maintaining one. Plus, with approvals from defence airfields, he has access to 350 airstrips compared to the 60 that are open for public use. He has roped in six owners so far; names, which, he says, are confidential. But Delhi's Modi family, Hero Honda 's Munjals, actors Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, if not executives from Shell, Cairn Energy, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are regular fliers. Singh is now starting to expand his network, to places like Bhubaneshwar, Pune and Raipur to cater to power, oil and chemical companies that are setting up bases there. 'You have to go where the customer is,' he says.

What Singh has, however, managed to build is a buzz around fractional ownership. There are now, in fact, three more players waiting to get in. Saija Air, Fidelity Aviation and Forum One are all preparing for their launches.

With the Indian skies now open for private competition, there has been frenetic activity in passenger flight operations, with 16 existing players and a dozen more waiting to get in. The Indian middle class has taken to the sky like never before. And the rush by the rich has just begun.

Taken with permission from India Brand Equity Foundation