Soon a plane at the cost of luxury cars!

Spurred by the growing affluence of the Indian upper-middle class, a Rajasthan-based investor has entered into a joint venture with an Italian company to manufacture two-seater aircrafts in Sikar. On offer are brands like Ikarus, Vampire and Little Genie.
"We hope to have the first plane out in the skies by April next year,” Vibhuti Singh Devra, CEO of West Wind Aviation said. Singh’s company would invest Rs 200 crore for assembling the planes.
Two-seater planes are the latest fad among the uber rich of India. According to recent estimates, more than a lakh Indians can easily spend nearly Rs 4 crore on buying speed machines.
"The trend these days is to buy micro light aircrafts that can cruise at a speed of 150-200 km hour. With the craft in their possession, the owners can fly to nearby places for business deals and to getaways on weekends,” Devra said. The cost of the basic plane is around Rs 35 lakhs, much less than an S-Class Merc. The fuel used in the craft is the same premium-category petrol we nowadays buy for our cars. According to industry claims, a microlite plane can fly 10 km on a litre of petrol.
"The average running cost of a microlite plane is just Rs 1600 per hour. Imagine flying two people to Delhi for less than Rs 2000,” said Singh.
10/07/08 Sandeep Dahiya/DNA MONEY/Sify

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2008, New Jul 2008