Indian business magnate and ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has decided to take a plunge in the aviation industry with his all-new budget airlines ‘Akasa Air’. The billionaire is planning on having a fleet of 70 aircraft within four years for the new airline he wants to set up in India. It was revealed by Jhunjhunwala in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala on his plans to set up an ultra-low-cost airline and the motivation behind his foray into aviation.
— BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) July 28, 2021
Watch more videos: https://t.co/GVegpM2fVV pic.twitter.com/oPw5pZtjtl
Jhunjhunwala, who according to Forbes has an estimated net worth of about $4.6 billion, is considering investing $35 million in the venture and would own 40% of the carrier. He expects to get a no-objection certificate from India’s aviation ministry in the next 15 days. Speaking about the development, the business mogul spoke on how optimistic he is about the future of the aviation sector, which has been hammered by the ensuing restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic: “For the culture of a company to be frugal you’ve to start off fresh,” Jhunjhunwala said. “I’m very, very bullish on India’s aviation sector in terms of demand.”
The budget airlines which would be named Akasa Air and the team would include a former senior executive of Delta Air Lines Inc. and will be looking at planes that can carry 180 passengers, as per the report.
Questioned on his views over how, after and even before the pandemic, some airlines in India, like fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines, which ended operations in 2012 or Jet Airways have not been able to cope with the market, Jhunjhunwala said, “I think some of the increment players may not recover,” he said. “I’ve got some of the best airline people in the world as my partners.”
