India’s tycoons take private jets to Goa, Maldives to escape coronavirus-ravaged cities

Business is booming for chartered aircraft in the world’s third worst-hit nation for Covid-19, as the country’s wealthy look to escape crowded airports

A one-hour flight on a 16-seater private plane from Mumbai to Goa can cost as much as US$8,000, but those stumping up the cash say it’s worth it

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India has seen a surge in demand for private jet charters in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Handout / Book My Charters

Published: 7:00pm, 9 Jul 2020Updated: 8:27pm, 9 Jul 2020

India’s rich used to travel by private jet for the comfort and the glamour. But now safety – and avoiding crowded airports amid the coronavirus pandemic – is the reason that those who can afford it in the world’s third-worst affected nation are fuelling a surge in demand for private planes.

Private jet companies say that ever since flights were allowed to resume from May 25, business has been brisk. Tycoons and their families want to go and recover from the country’s lockdown in their holiday homes in Goa or the Maldives, but flinch at the longer-than-usual queues and tedious, prolonged screening protocols – even if they travel first class.

Instead they are booking Gulfstream 120s – or for the super-rich, Bombardier Global 6000s – and paying as much as US$8,000 for a 16-seater plane on the one-hour flight from Mumbai to Goa. Even the budget 8-seater option costs at least US$1,100 per hour, plus landing fees and other charges.

Book My Charters, a Mumbai-based outfit that operates a fleet of private jets as well as helicopters and luxury yachts, has seen a 60 per cent increase in inquiries since May 25, according to its 28-year-old CEO Sachit Wadhwa. Most new clients already had the means to fly privately but had opted for commercial flights instead “because it seemed flamboyant to go on a private jet,” he said. “But with safety paramount in their minds now, they are opting for this.”

A view inside the interior of a Book My Charters private jet. Photo: Handout / Book My Charters

Kanika Tekriwal, CEO and founder of fellow charter operation Jet Set Go Aviation, said she receives about 20 enquiries every day – again, mostly from first timers.