India’s first fractional ownership company has acquired three additional secondhand Cessna Citations and plans to acquire another five by year-end.
Club One managing director Manav Singh says he has sold six fractional shares and expects to have sold 35 by year-end. Club One launched charters in March with a Cessna Citation S/II and a Citation Excel based in Delhi (Flight International, 1-7 March). It has since added another S/II and Excel and launched a fractional service.
Singh says Club One has acquired a third S/II that will be delivered at the end of September and be the first Mumbai-based aircraft. He seeks to acquire another Excel and four more S/IIs by year-end and open bases in Bangalore, Hyderabad and secondary cities outside Delhi and Mumbai.
Club One is no longer offering a charter service, but one of its customers, AR Airways, has acquired a share for its charter business. Singh owns a partial stake in AR Airways and all of Club One. He also owns AR Aerotech, a maintenance company established last year, which is already servicing Club One’s aircraft and aims to become an authorised Cessna service centre.
The fractions, which each buy a sixth or an eighth of an aircraft, are for 10 years and provide for 800h annually. Singh aims to later also sell Gulfstream GIV or Bombardier Global Express fractions, but says he will not acquire these aircraft until customers commit to them.
There are about 20 business jets operating privately in India, but before Club One only ad hoc charters were available. Business jet manufacturers expect India to be one of their largest growth markets, including Embraer, which in August delivered three Legacys to the Indian air force and border security force and believes civilian sales will follow.
BRENDAN SOBIE/SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
