MUMBAI: Rakesh Gangwal was never really all that keen on starting an airline in India in the first place. Perhaps the former US Airways CEO had Richard Branson's dictum in mind — if you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline. But the Bhatias of Inter-Globe Enterprises wouldn't take no for an answer.
The roots of InterGlobe can be traced back to Delhi Express, a travel company run by Bhatia's father Kapil Bhatia.
The company fell into bad times when Bhatia was still in the US. He came back, took the reigns of the business and subsequently launched Inter-Globe expanding it to a conglomerate with interests in travel technology, hospitality, business jets and retail, apart from its prized airline IndiGo.
"Rahul and his father (Kapil Bhatia) had, since many years prior to 2005, been talking about starting an airline and I always stayed away from it. I had zero desire," Gangwal told ETin an interview in October.
Seated next to him, Rahul Bhatia picked up the thread of the story: "He was a difficult customer. I had been chasing him for years. I saw as much potential in aviation (in India) as telecom."
11/11/15 Anirban Chowdhury & Satish John/The Economic Times
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The roots of InterGlobe can be traced back to Delhi Express, a travel company run by Bhatia's father Kapil Bhatia.
The company fell into bad times when Bhatia was still in the US. He came back, took the reigns of the business and subsequently launched Inter-Globe expanding it to a conglomerate with interests in travel technology, hospitality, business jets and retail, apart from its prized airline IndiGo.
"Rahul and his father (Kapil Bhatia) had, since many years prior to 2005, been talking about starting an airline and I always stayed away from it. I had zero desire," Gangwal told ETin an interview in October.
Seated next to him, Rahul Bhatia picked up the thread of the story: "He was a difficult customer. I had been chasing him for years. I saw as much potential in aviation (in India) as telecom."
11/11/15 Anirban Chowdhury & Satish John/The Economic Times
