NetJets to lend wings to India's super-rich

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"In last four years, we witnessed a growth of 400 percent in NetJets business jet flights to and from India," said Robert Dranitzke, director (marketing), NetJets Europe. "There are about 45 registered private jets operating in India and the demand is for 400 private jets. There is a lot of potential and ground to cover."

NetJets expects its business to thrive in India, which is home to 53 billionaires and boasts of a booming economy, with annual growth averaging over 8 percent.

"In India, wealth creation is taking place at a phenomenal pace. We think we'll get to our first 100 customers in India very quickly, and that will be just the tip of the iceberg," said John Colucci, executive vice president, NetJets US.

"There is so much wealth being created in India and a lot of young millionaires are being created in different sectors. We would initially be targeting these high net-worth individuals (HNIs) rather than corporate houses as the decision to buy into NetJets' programs would take a lot more time in the case of corporate," Graeme Weston, executive vice president, NetJets Europe, said, adding that the company would target corporate and leisure segments.

"India seems to be the next great frontier in general aviation," Weston said, hinting that India offered greater opportunities than the US or China.

Dranitzke agrees. Every four days, an Indian is availing of NetJets' private jet travel service.

"India's economy is booming and, in today's global marketplace, more and more Indian companies are investing and doing business abroad. It is not hard to see the appeal of traveling by private jet. They are like a business tool because meetings can be held while traveling. Telephones - both onboard handsets and mobiles - work, as do Internet connections," Dranitzke said.

NetJets offers, among other aircrafts, Gulfstream G550, which can seat 14 passengers, and, with two bathrooms, is roomier than some apartments.

With NetJets, one can either buy time like 25 hours or 50 hours on an aircraft or there is the option of partly-owning it. NetJet is targeting individuals with a net-worth of $4-5 million to sign up for its services, since partly owning an aircraft could be compared to owning a luxury car for this segment. And, the offer seems lucrative since for as little as $2 million (Rs.8 crore) one can become a fractional owner of a NetJet aircraft. In comparison, one would need to pay five times that amount to buy a small jet and add to it another $2 million (Rs.8 crore) as maintenance and operating costs.

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