Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Air eyes 70 planes in 4 years

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is planning on having 70 aircraft within four years for a new airline he wants to set up in India on optimism that more people will travel by air.

Jhunjhunwala, who is considering investing $35 million and would own 40 per cent of the carrier, expects to get a no-objection certificate from the aviation ministry in the next 15 days, he said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Wednesday. The ultra-low cost airline will be called Akasa Air and the team, which includes a former senior executive of Delta Air Lines Inc, is looking at planes that can carry 180 passengers, he said.

It's a bold bet by Jhunjhunwala, who's known as India's Warren Buffett, in a market that has seen some airlines collapse in the face of intense fare wars and high costs. Still, what was once the world's fastest-growing aviation market holds an allure and Jhunjhunwala is looking at opportunities to woo flyers with a brand new carrier offering low fares.

"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."

Even before the pandemic, airlines in India were struggling. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, once the country's second-largest domestic carrier, ended operations in 2012, and Jet Airways India Ltd, which was recently approved to fly again, collapsed in 2019.

While demand for air travel has been hit globally, India's aviation industry is at greater risk of delayed recovery as the threat of a third wave of infections looms. Airlines are feeling the impact.

Vistara, which Singapore Airlines Ltd jointly owns with Tata Group, is in discussions with Boeing Co and Airbus SE to delay aircraft deliveries and make changes to the payment timetables. IndiGo reported a wider-than-anticipated losses on Tuesday.