BUSINESS JETS IN INDIA ARE POSH, PRIVATE AND PROSPERING

General aviation is going great guns with niche customers acquiring new jets and charters making hay while the sun shines. It's estimated that the value of jet sales in Asia will swell 7% annually

- BY SHOBHA JOHN

The good times are rolling for general aviation, especially in Asia. Though Indian commercial aviation saw a dimming with the tragic crash of Air India's A171 on June 12, 2025, general aviation, by and large, has seen a positive trend with an increase in aircraft numbers bought globally.

A recent Economist article highlighted the fact that "India's rising rich are snapping up sleek personal planes" even as in China "posh private aircraft registered has dropped like a stone, in part because the Communist Party has taken umbrage against lavish displays of wealth".

The article says that by one estimate, the value of private-jet sales in Asia will swell 7% a year to 2030. That compares with 4% annual growth worldwide. It further says that between 2020 and 2024, the number of private jets registered in India jumped by nearly a quarter to 168. The number of monthly private flights tripled to more than 2,400, higher than anywhere else in the continent. "In March 2025, four of the 10 most popular private-jet routes in Asia were domestic Indian ones, connecting Mumbai to Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune," it said.

And many of the new Richie-riches come from secondand third-tier cities. What's more, The Economist says that they are hard bargainers. Yet, private jets sell for anything between $3m and $100m.

In India, the bullish trend in general aviation can also be attributed to the impetus given to religious tourism, leading to an increase in the number of charters to various pilgrim sites. This boom was highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) 81st Annual General Meeting in June 2025. Modi said India was the third-largest domestic aviation market, with 240 million passengers annually. By 2030, this is projected to reach 500 million.