Exclusive Interview
When work becomes passion, it leads towards achieving milestone. One such personality is the young and rising entrepreneur, Aditya Singhal, Director& CEO, Karwaan International Air Services who has forayed into the business of Aviation with vision to transform flying experiences for the elites. In an exclusive interview with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World, he shares his journey & thoughts towards the Karwaan. Excerpts…
Q. Brief us about the services done by Karwaan International?
A: Our Company’s primary focus is on Private Charters and elevating the experience of a customer irrespective of the duration of the flight. For Karwaan, “Client is King”. We abide by this ethos to create an impressionable environment for our customers.
We focus on Private charters as our core focus includes corporate flights, celebrity flying, and government flights on business aircraft. Karwaan is slowly covering ground in MICE charters as well. In the past year, we have handled 5-6 big projects that involved a transfer of more than 200 passengers per project.
Our regular clientele has always been satisfied and pro motive of our expansion. With this experience, we are expecting a jump in our revenues and flow of inquiries for commercial aircraft as well. Other areas of prominence for Karwaan are helicopter Signature tours to Char-dham, and Vaishno devi and political flying. Karwaan is also planning to improve and expand its services in the air ambulance, repatriation flights and cargo charters. We are already working on Aircraft sales and Consultancy with Aerosource India, and with BAMS India we offer Aircraft Management services for both domestic and International aircraft.
Q: Who are your potential clients and in which region do you have the maximum outreach in terms of client services?
A: Most of the corporate clientele we handle is based in the North and West of India. Our potential clientele is anyone who loves a good experience and is looking for a hassle-free private flying experience. It can be high net-worth Individuals, Industrialists, Celebrities, and Politicians.
We can provide maximum outreach for flights originating from north and west of India, as our team is strategically located in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Internationally we have done flights to the Middle East, Europe and a few locations in Asia Pacific, to ensure a smooth experience we choose our operators very carefully after verifying all documents related to the aircraft and the company.
This helps in providing confidence to the client that their money is secured as international flights are usually a big transaction.
Q: How did the journey of Karwaan start and what’s the company’s vision?
A: The journey of Karwaan started with the vision of elevating the current service industry. A lot of people have been working on the aggregator model, but we wanted to make a difference with the level of service we are offering to our customers. We believe that booking a charter flight should be a hassle-free and smooth experience for our clients and also that they make an informed decision about the aircraft they want to fly on.
We had seen a trend in the industry that short-duration domestic flights were not given much attention, so we held on to this point and worked on improving the in-flight services and booking procedure of the same. This led on to come up with personalised airport visits at every station and go above and beyond for our client’s comfort whether it be a 1-hour flight or an 8-hour long flight. Our focus was to provide the client with the best possible options available to them and give them the best possible experience.
Q: What are your plans and how do you project to achieve them?
A: Our main focus is to establish more international clients by expanding our reach to different countries, the main point of attention is to grab the Dubai, Europe and Asia-Pacific markets. To do so we we are trying to strengthen our network of international operators and other service providers so that our clients can have better confidence in our services.
We have made it a priority to attend airshows and trade show events in these countries to understand the market better and gain more insights into the business aviation industry based in the above-mentioned regions.
Q: Your segment is highly competitive. What’s the USP that makes you different from others working in the same domain?
A: Business aviation has always been a niche market but with more new players entering the industry, the market is becoming more cluttered and competitive. But this is also true that the industry is cut-throat only perseverance, service and trust survive. Our USP is our client’s trust in our services and the ease of doing business we provide.
We are dedicated to our clients’ comfort when it comes to being different from others working in the same domain. We do not try to push the most profitable deal but it should be the most feasible one. An informed and transparent choice is provided to every client who interacts with us.
Q: Any plans to start your own NSOP with your own set of fleets?
A: Business Aircraft Management Services and Aerosource India already have an NSOP and NOC licence respectively. Karwaan plans to move towards a lease-to-buy model and fractional ownership model as
and when the DGCA takes the necessary steps to easily implement the same.
Karwaan does not want to accumulate more fixed assets as that can lead to more liabilities for that we can always liaise with BAMS or Aerosource for the same. There have been ample discussions on the Fractional Ownership model, and DGCA has also held multiple meetings with various stakeholders to execute the same. We already have a fixed number of clients who fly a certain hour on different aircraft, we do not want to limit ourselves to a particular type of aircraft as Karwaan. As our USP is offering choice to our clients we shall work forward in expanding our vision towards leasing or fractionally acquiring multiple types of aircraft.
Q: What are your views on the growing aviation sector in India, especially general or business aviation?
A: The business Aviation sector has expanded multifold. A lot of new machines are coming to the domestic market, the aircraft sales have shown a positive trend both domestically and globally. Business jets are being preferred over turboprops in the current trend, and the number of NSOPs has also increased, leading to more availability of aircraft in the market for the charters and a larger ticket size.
A significant upward trend is also seen in the global markets with pre-owned aircraft sales. The number of private flyers has seen a bounce over the past since COVID-19. People have realised the accessibility and security of Private aircraft over commercial pushing more people to enter the business aviation market.
All in all, to conclude the private aviation industry has seen growth in the past few years and the trend continues to grow even though the fear of Covid-19 has passed us all.
