IndiGo promoter InterGlobe to set up fixed-base operations at airports for business jets

22 September 2007

Aircraft dealer and servicing company InterGlobe General Aviation Pvt Ltd is in talks with several companies, including Reliance Industries, the Tata Group and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), to set up a dedicated airport facility for private and business jets.

The Gurgaon-based InterGlobe is the promoter of low-cost airline IndiGo. It plans to invest in fixed base operations (FBO) for private jets, which are much smaller than passenger planes. FBOs are exclusive facilities that offer parking, fuelling, ground handling, maintenance, pilot management and other services for private jets belonging to wealthy individuals or corporate houses.

A company representative said it was keen to invest in FBOs across the country, as part of promoting general aviation. But InterGlobe general aviation CEO Nigel Harwood declined to disclose the names of companies it is currently in talks with for the venture.

It is well known that large industry groups like Reliance and the Tatas are keen to develop the Juhu airport in Mumbai as an FBO. Other options are being evaluated in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.

Smaller jets need only about 5,000ft of runway to take off, compared with up to 10,000ft for a regular runway. Private and business jets form part of general aviation, while passenger and cargo planes belong to civil aviation.

Harwood, who has spent 15 years in India and was earlier CEO of Kingfisher Airlines, notes that India has seen a boom in civil aviation in the last three years. Now, he says, it is the turn of general aviation.