Former IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh will join billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala as a co-founder in the latter's airline Akasa. Another industry veteran, Jet Airways former CEO Vinay Dube, is also said to be in the founding team of the airline that is said to be in the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), ET reported a day after Jhunjhunwala announced his aviation plans.
Akasa, being modelled on the likes of Irish operator Ryanair, will see Ghosh's return to the aviation industry after he quit IndiGo in 2018 after a 10-year stint as its president and whole time director. It was during his tenure that IndiGo grew from a fledgling carrier to the country's biggest airline by market share.
Ghosh will own less than 10 per cent in the airline and will be a board member (as Jhunjhunwala's nominee). The venture "will be his key focus" although he won't be part of the management, the report said, citing sources. Jhunjhunwala will hold 40 per cent, while Dube, the main mind behind the airline, will hold over 15 per cent and be its CEO.
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Interestingly, Airbnb investor Par Capital Management will also be investing in Akasa. The Boston-based private investment fund is also an investor in American ULCC Sun Country Airlines.
Jhunjhunwala's 40 per cent would be $35 million in investment. He expects to get a no-objection certificate from India’s aviation ministry in the next 15 days, he said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Wednesday. Jhunjhunwala is undertaking this endeavour on the optimistic prediction that more people will start travelling by air again, according to a report by Bloomberg. “For the culture of a company to be frugal you’ve to start off fresh,” the highly successful trader said in the interview. “I’m very, very bullish on India’s aviation sector in terms of demand," he then went on to add.