Wadia's airline to take off in 2005

Come 2005 and Nusli Wadia's Go Airlines India will be taxiing for take off. At the helm of the Rs 150-crore (Rs 1.5 billion) venture will be Wadia's younger son Jehangir.

The airline will be a no-frills airline and, unlike Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, it will have no in-flight entertainment. The fares are expected to be in line with those of Air Deccan.

The name, Go Airlines, has not been finalised yet. Advertising agency St Lukes has been appointed by the company to help choose the brand name.

To begin with, the company will be leasing an undisclosed number of aircraft. It recently received a clearance from the civil aviation ministry and is in the process of selecting an expat chief executive officer.

The funds for the project are being routed through SeaWind Investments, a subsidiary of the Wadia-controlled

Bombay Burmah Trading Company. Jeh Wadia, its deputy managing director, said, "We are currently in talks with both Boeing and Airbus and will finalise the deal for leasing aircraft shortly."

Go Airlines' subscribed share capital of Rs 3 crore (Rs 30 million) will be raised to Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) to meet Directorate-General of Civil Aviation guidelines.

Jeh seems to have been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. He set up Integrated Clinical Research Services, a clinical trials company, Paradiso, a music company and Virtual Education, an e-learning firm, before the foray into aviation.

Unlike other business houses, the Wadia group has kept a low profile. In fact, the group's foray into aviation comes almost four years after an attempt to venture into the insurance business with CGNU of the UK.