Aviation company offers hourly-basis business, tourism charters

A month after beginning helicopter joy rides on the Sabarmati riverfront, AeroTrans Services Pvt Ltd — a 2.5-year-old aviation company acquired by the owners of a pharmaceutical firm in Ahmedabad — is now offering business and tourism charters from Gujarat that range between Rs 45,000 per hour to Rs 1.75 lakh per hour. “We are looking at a full-fledged aviation charter business and our range includes single piston engine aircraft, jet aircraft and helicopters. We are looking to serve people and companies who would want to charter a helicopter or aircraft from Gujarat. We are getting bookings to go to Gir Sanctuary, Dahej, Somnath, Dwarka, Palitana and Dhordo in Kutch. Both families and corporates hire our aircraft,” said Rajiv Gandhi, who is the chairman of AeroTrans and managing director and founder of the Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical firm Hester Biosciences. The speed of the aircraft ranges from 230 kmph to 650 kmph. Aviation companies in Gujarat have been upbeat after the state government recently reduced VAT (Value Added Tax) on Aviation Turbine Fuel from the earlier 30 per cent to the present 5 per cent. “We were earlier operating charters out of Pune and Mumbai. We have shifted one helicopter to Ahmedabad. We have shifted our operational base partly from Maharashtra to Gujarat. We have stationed only two helicopters in Pune and all the rest have been shifted to Gujarat, which is now our focus area,” Gandhi said. The company has a fleet of six aeroplanes and three helicopters of which five are fully-owned by the company and the rest four are managed by AeroTrans for others who own the aircraft. “We acquired Pune-based Oxford Enterprises which chartered a single helicopter. My daughter Priya Gandhi and I acquired it 2.5 years ago and changed the name to AeroTrans Services,” he added. When asked why an owner of a pharmaceutical firm bought an aviation company, Gandhi said, “I was always keen on aviation and I used to be thrilled with small aircraft. In this case, the business is driven more out of passion.” Gandhi has invested Rs 35-40 crore in AeroTrans.