The High Flier
Not a foreigner to the Super Rich Club, Rakesh Gangwal has made his fortune in the civil aviation industry. He is the co-founder of Indigo Airlines, whose parent company is InterGlobe Aviation, an enterprise of Gangwal. InterGlobe has a 51.12 per cent stake in IndiGo and 47.88 per cent is held by Gangwal’s Virginia-based company Caelum Investments.
From June 2003 to August 2007, IITian Gangwal — who is a management graduate from the Wharton University — was the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Worldspan Technologies Inc., a provider of travel technology and information services to the travel and transportation industry. Between 2002 and 2003, Gangwal was involved in various personal business endeavours, including private equity projects and consulting projects.
IndiGo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation in 2017 reported a 294 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 551.55 crore, helped by credits received from manufacturers for aircraft delivery, and better revenue management. The airline had reported a net profit of Rs 139.85 crore in the same period a year ago. Its total revenue in 2017 rose 27.2 per cent to Rs 5,505.56 crore from Rs 4,166.93 crore in 2016.
Interglobe Aviation, as mentioned before, reported a net profit of Rs 552 crore in the September 2017 quarter, almost four times the net profit in the year-ago period (2016).
IndiGo’s revenue per available seat kilometre (ASK) — a key measure of an airline’s profitability — stood at 3.52, up 12.6 per cent from the year-ago period (2016).
Indigo, which has been promoted as an on-time low-cost carrier, remains the first choice for budget fliers.
