Business magnate Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to invest in low-cost airline, plans 70 new planes

Indian business magnate and famous stock trader, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has come up with a plan to launch a low-cost airline that will encourage air flying in India. Jhunjhunwala is considering investing approximately $35 million dollars and plans on having over seventy aircrafts in four years. 

Jhunjhunwala will be the 40 per cent owner of the carrier. He is expecting a No Objection Certification (NOC) from the aviation ministry in the next 15 days. According to reports, the low-cost airline with be called 'Akasa Air' and is looking at planes that can carry 180 passengers. 

According to CNBC-TV18 sources, former Indigo President Aditya Ghosh and former Jet Airways CEO  will also be a part of Jhunmjhunwala's new airline venture. The team will also include the former senior executive of Delta Air Lines Inc.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Jhunjhunwala said, "For the culture of a company to be frugal you've to start off fresh, I'm very, very bullish on India's aviation sector in terms of demand."

In the last few years, the aviation sector in the country has seen a huge blow in terms of finances. Even before the pandemic hit us, Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines was suffering and ended its operations in 2012. Another aviation company, Jet Airways India Ltd., was forced to shut down after a massive loss in 2019 but the news is that it has been given permission to fly again recently.

Even though the air travel industry has seen unexpected lows in recent times, Jhunjhunwala is determined to begin his new venture. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of approximately $4.6 billion dollars.