JetSetFleet Management Services IFSC Private, a leasing arm of JetSetGo Aviation, has become the first Indian leasing business to directly import an aircraft.

The aircraft, a Hawker 800 XP, leased through GIFT City, IFSC was imported from the UK and towed into the MRO after landing at Nagpur airport. Parking and warehousing services were provided by Air India MRO. The aircraft was brought into the SEZ for the purpose of leasing, promoting MRO and offering other ancillary services in the region. This transaction is being hailed as the country's first-ever after the Ministry of Finance established a framework for aircraft leasing and tax sops were granted, to shift the leasing business from Ireland or other locations to Indian territories.

To lease out the aircraft, the company is experimenting with a novel financing strategy wherein JetSetGo plans to use the ‘pay-as-you-go’ arrangement. Under this model, the company gets compensated based on how much the aircraft flies. In addition to this, JetSetGo is also looking into revenue-sharing arrangements.

Commenting on this milestone, Kanika Tekriwal, Founder & CEO, JetSetGo Aviation, said: “With the import of the Hawker 800 XP, we are extremely proud to be the first Indian leasing company to bring an aircraft into the country directly. This is not just a big milestone for us as a business, but also a historic move for India’s aviation industry as a whole. We are thrilled to have been able to do this as it is a step forward towards putting India on the global aviation map and enabling many industry-firsts going forward. With this initiative, we want to ensure that the leasing of aircraft becomes feasible in India. Furthermore, we are planning to bring in at least six aircraft by the end of 2021-22, and by the end of 2022, we will also look at leasing planes to international locations.”

Published on August 19, 2021