Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) chief Anil Ambani is revisiting his dream of entering the civil aviation business.
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According to an industry source who did not want to be named, the group is reviving plans to tap opportunities in aviation, now that the sector is showing signs of a turnaround.
“I know the group (ADAG) is seriously looking at the airlines business. They had shelved plans earlier because of the slowdown but they have now started showing keen interest (in the sector) again,” he said.
Reliance ADAG has reportedly done a due diligence of SpiceJet and G R Gopinath-owned Deccan Aviation Pvt Ltd in around two years.
The source said the group has not yet decided whether it would start its own airline or acquire another carrier to foray into the commercial aviation space.
He said Reliance had enough resources to start out on its own, but it would get a headstart if it bought out an established airline.
However, he does not expect Ambani’s airline dream to materialise before one or two years.
“It is looking to offer services in both the low-cost and full-service segment, like Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways. It wants to start on a big scale and that will take time,” said the source.
Guru Malladi, partner - advisory services - infrastructure, real estate and government - of Ernst & Young Pvt Ltd, said the domestic airline industry can take one more player with the kind of growth rate that is being projected.
Industry experts expect the local market to grow at a double-digit rate in the current year with demand for air travel picking up in the last few months.
According to Official Airline Guide (OAG), the passenger traffic grew 3.2% globally in January this year while it grew 14% in emerging markets and 23% in India.
Aircraft maker Airbus on Thursday forecasted that its 20-year sale of new aircraft would be 1032, worth $138 billion, by 2028. This is up from its earlier 20-year sale prediction of 992 aircraft by 2026.
The current fleet of the Indian airlines was 336 aircraft, up from 122 in 2003.
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