India's rich board private jets amid Covid pandemic

Private jet operators in the country have registered an increase in the number of flights they operate every successive month since October 2020 as wealthy Indians increasingly skip commercial flights and opt for private flying amid the pandemic.

General aviation aircraft movements have been growing since October and posted a 71.8% jump year on year in March, although on a low base after a 37.7% decline a year earlier, government data showed.

General aviation refers to all civil aviation operations other than scheduled commercial air services. It is measured by aircraft movements – one aircraft movement is equal to one flight.


Business jet operators said the increase is driven by first-time private jet fliers on both international and domestic routes. “There has been a very encouraging increase in first-time travellers, but more importantly, there has been a very significant increase in first-time international travellers,” Rajan Mehra, CEO of air charter firm Club One Air, told ET. “I could easily put a finger on a 25% increase.”

Mehra, former India head of Qatar Airways, said air charter operators started seeing an increase post July last year.

“Prior to the pandemic the ultra-wealthy used private jets for domestic travel but preferred commercial airlines for their international travel due to the cost differential,” he said. “However, with safety and hygiene becoming the top priority, these passengers shifted from first class or business class of commercial flights to private travel.”

So, while general aviation is flying high, commercial airlines are witnessing a decline in passenger numbers once again as a severe second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has marred their recovery momentum.

The increase in demand for business jets is also coming from people opting to charter services for medical emergencies.

“From the total queries that we have received to date starting from early March 2021, 20% were from students living or studying abroad and wanting to fly back to India, 25% were business fliers, and 50% were people looking out to chartering services for medical emergencies out of which 75% were first-time flyers. Rest were leisure flyers,” said Kanika Tekriwal, CEO and founder of JetSetGo Aviation.

“Requests are not coming from ultra-rich people but from the ones that are pooling all their resources for the fear of not having access to medical facilities at the right time,” she told ET.

JetSetGo is also operating a large number of international charters. “Internationally, most requests are coming for Maldives and Dubai,” Tekriwal said. “We are doing close to 3-4 flights per day for Dubai.”