Luxury business jet operator Club One Air is looking to double its fleet to 20 planes in the next two years amid growing demand for chartered flights and the government's push to improve regional connectivity.
The New Delhi-based air charter firm currently has 10 aircraft, four other of them Dassault-made Falcon 2000, in the fleet.
It largely caters to domestic demand besides flying to around 50 international cities, its Chief Executive Rajan Mehra said.
"We have just inducted the 10th aircraft, a 12-seater Falcon. Going forward we will be adding more aircraft, which will be bigger, wider and larger in range. We are aiming to get our fleet size to 15-20 by March 2020," Mehra told PTI.
Club One Air, which currently operates from two bases, New Delhi and Mumbai, is expected to touch 300 cities, including 250 domestic ones, in the current year, Mehra said.
He added that the induction of larger range planes would help it fly non-stop to London.
"In domestic, we provide our charter services even in smaller cities. Internationally too, we go up to Europe besides Southeast Asia and the Far East. But we plan to fly to England without a halt. The induction of larger range planes will help us achieve this," he said.
According to Mehra, private business jet aviation is poised to clock a good growth as the industry has been able to convince the government of its untapped potential and huge job opportunities.
"We feel that this segment has the potential to further boost the economy. Though the government's UDAN scheme is not designed for private jet operators, it might be a game changer as it may bring infrastructure which was not there so far. So, if both industry and government act right, the private business jet aviation could really take off," he said.
Mehra said that Club One Air is growing in double digits against the industry norm which remains in the sub-10 range.
"We are looking to clock around 12-15 per cent growth this fiscal," Mehra said, without giving specifics.
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