Own a plane, almost

Times may be hard but Indian business honchos still need to travel - extensively, fast and free of the logistical hassles of commercial Could a private aviation revolution be round the corner? Yes, says Mark Baier, CEO of Bjets, an aviation operator flying in South-east Asia. And the way ahead may be lined with timeshare arrangements for planes, a tiny fraction compared to 11,000 in US and 3,000 in Europe. But these could double in a couple of years with more players coming in. We expect over 70% of our revenues to come from India," says Baier.But what of all those cancelled deliveries of private jets, each worth some $30-35 million? Ann Cossette of Bombardier Business Aircraft, says, "The increase in the number of order cancellations are mainly due to the limited availability of financing for our customers."

This is why international operators are now offering the next best thing - 'own' your own plane by buying the number of hours you need in it. Though domestic operators like Club One Air have been doing this since 2005, there are hardly any international players who can fly clients on a timeshare, say from India to Europe. "Most have smaller planes such as Cessnas, which are used domestically," says Ira Trivedi, India representative of VistaJet, a Swiss company with 30 planes flying to Europe, North America, the Gulf and South-east Asia.

Clients are typically high-net worth individuals, multinationals and Indian companies. "We target individuals with a personal wealth of over $50 million," says Trivedi. VistaJet has tied up with Bird Group, an Indian conglomerate, to market the concept in Asia. It plans to add at least two planes to its fleet every month and expects to touch the 100-plane mark soon. Bjets says its fleet should run to 10-15 planes by year-end. "In 2008, we signed an order for 50 jets. Deliveries over the next five years are valued close to $1 billion,'' says Baier.

Clients typically use a combination of commercial and private planes to travel, says Baier, flying abroad on a commercial flight and switching to a smaller private jet to get to smaller cities for meetings. The private plane allows the businessman to conclude meetings and return to base the same day. Private jets also boast landing rights to smaller airstrips, where commercial planes cannot land. "While commercial fly to some 50 destinations in India, my planes, numbering five, can fly to over 120 airstrips," says Baier. The add-ons include limousine pick-up, onboard amenities and chopper service.