India’s exceptional economic performance that has spawned a burgeoning population of high-net-worth individuals is driving strong growth in the business aviation sector, according to Delhi-based private charter operator JetSetGo, which is intently focused on efforts to expand its fleet. The company is also investing management bandwidth in plans to launch new advanced air mobility (AAM) services that could include urban and regional flights using new eVTOL and hybrid-electric aircraft.

According to accountancy group Deloitte, India’s gross domestic product is expected to grow at a rate of between 6.5% and 6.8% in the current financial year, rising to between 6.7% and 7.3% in the following 12-month period. While still below the World Bank-logged rate of 7.6% in 2023, the growth is more than double that of the U.S. and well above the anemic state of Europe’s economies.

Today, JetSetGo’s fleet consists of 10 jets including a Cessna Citation CJ2, three Hawker 800XPs, a Hawker 750, a Hawker 900, a Gulfstream G200, a Dassault Falcon 2000, an Embraer Legacy 600, and a Bombardier Global 6000. It also operates a pair of Leonardo AW109 helicopters.

These aircraft are primarily managed on behalf of their private and corporate owners, with spare capacity made available through the charter market. Based mainly on its core fleet of Hawkers, JetSetGo—which was formed in 2012—has introduced a jet card program and, according to the group’s chief strategy officer, Jonathan Sumner, it is now exploring how block flight-time offerings—potentially including fractional ownership—could support the addition of new-build business jets.

“There is enormous untapped potential for us to provide what is essentially personal air mobility, but [with current business aircraft] the entry price is very high,” Sumner told AIN. This has prompted JetSetGo’s intense interest in what new aircraft could enable in terms of economies of scale that would reduce the price point for alternatives to road and rail connections.

eVTOLs Could Be in the Mix

In January, JetSetGo signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese start-up SkyDrive to explore the business case for deploying its in-development SD05 three-seat eVTOL aircraft for short hops around cities in India’s Gujarat state. The business jet operator has also started a partnership with Embraer spinoff Eve Air Mobility to prepare for the deployment of its Vector urban air traffic management software platform to support eVTOL operations in Indian cities.

JetSetGo has already made provisional commitments to buy Overair’s larger Butterfly eVTOL aircraft and Horizon’s Cavorite model—both of which have longer range than the SD-05. In January 2024, the company signed a sales agreement with Electra Aero covering possible orders for its hybrid-electric nine-passenger blown-lift wing short takeoff and landing aircraft, which it views as being suitable for new routes of up to around 500 kilometers (270 nm).

“We’re now seeing an extension of wealth growth outside India’s tier one cities into the tier two and three cities, and that is driving demand for better air connections,” Sumner explained. “We’re seeing growth in private jet demand because there is a service gap for flights where airlines don’t want to go.”

While efforts have been made to use helicopters to fill this gap, it has proved challenging to scale up operations at affordable rates for flights. This is where JetSetGo sees an opening for the new electric and hybrid-electric aircraft it expects to see entering the market from around 2028.

The company has not yet determined how this aspect of its fleet diversification will be funded. For now, its focus is defining the right business model with what Sumner called “a laser focus on the early adopter customer.”

“Outside the U.S., India is probably the best opportunity to see how the new [AAM] model could work,” said Sumner, who is a former managing director of private charter flight platform Victor and a veteran of air taxi start-up Farnborough Aircraft. Between 2001 and 2004, Farnborough Aircraft had tried to bring the F1 Kestrel light aircraft to market at the height of the very light jet revolution that never came to fruition.

A big factor in JetSetGo’s optimism is the current Indian government’s resolve in boosting airport infrastructure and encouraging air transport growth. “Over the past year, we’ve seen all the major [aircraft] OEMs taking India seriously, whereas before we were struggling to get on the radar,” Sumner concluded.