Kanika Tekriwal’s real life story illustrates this point like nothing else. Nine years ago a 24-year-old girl Kanika, who had just survived cancer, ventured into the Indian aviation industry without owning a single aircraft.

Her plan was to build a charter aircraft business using an aggregator model like Ola and Uber. Kanika Tekriwal launched Jetsetgo as an aircraft aggregator in 2012.

She said, “I invested Rs 5600 and built an app to book chartered flights. For the first two years I took advance from clients and credit from vendors to run the business.”

“I also offered consultancy and advised people in buying airplanes according to their needs.”

Today, Jetsetgo has grown into a Rs 150 crore turnover company with around 200 employees and offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Last year the company purchased its own fleet of eight aircraft.

In 2020-21 they handled 1 lakh flyers and operated 6000 flights. Their clients are mostly corporates, celebrities, politicians, and people of importance. They offer a range of charter flights, from a six-seater to 18-seater plane.

“Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai- Bengaluru, and Hyderabad-Delhi are most flown sectors. Around five per cent of their flights are used for medical emergencies.”

Kanika believes air-taxis will be a major market in the near future