This Delhi Couple’s Startup Is Democratizing Private Jet Access for Indian Corporate Houses & Luxury Travellers Through BookMyJet

For decades, the private aviation industry in India has remained largely unorganized, leaving customers (UHNIs and HNIs) at the receiving end of fragmented systems.

For instance, if a businessman from Surat wants to fly their family to Delhi in a private jet, they would typically have:

Zero real-time visibility into which aircraft are available near them, where the aircraft is positioned, whether it is empty-leg or full charter, and what price it would come for. 

So how would they discover the availability of private jets near them? By manually calling personal brokers, texting on WhatsApp groups, and reaching out to multiple operators. 

The result? An exhausting experience filled with multiple hiccups. 

“These are the exact kind of gaps that we are solving. Private aviation, anywhere in the world, should be extremely transparent and accessible. Honestly, private jets have one job: to be convenient for the customer. And if even that is not fulfilled, it's a disappointing picture for the industry as a whole,”Santosh Sharma, founder and CEO of BookMyJet, tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview. 

Founded in 2021, BookMyJet is a Delhi-based tech-driven platform that simplifies private jet bookings in India from start to finish, making private aviation accessible and efficient.

THE BACKGROUND 

Originally from Jamshedpur, Santosh Sharma pursued a Bachelor's degree in Economics and graduated with a gold medal. 

Next, he undertook his MBA from IIPM and landed up in the general aviation industry in 2005. 

As for Ajuka Mahajan, co-founder of BookMyJet and Santosh’s wife, she hails from Himachal Pradesh and was brought up in Delhi. Just like Santosh, she also pursued an MBA degree from Delhi University.

“I was working in general aviation when my attention turned to the private side of this industry. Even though it was at its nascent stage back then, the problems in booking private jets were very real. Everything looked very fragmented and I knew there had to be a permanent, honest solution,” Santosh Sharma tells Startup Pedia. 

In 2009, the young husband-wife duo decided to do something bold but risky: quit their jobs with just Rs 50,000 in the bank. 

Their purpose? Build an ecosystem for general and private aviation in India. 

At the time, a platform like this simply didn't exist in the market. 

In 2009, Foresee Aviation was officially established.

The early days of the startup were marked by multiple challenges that entrepreneurs Ajuka and Santosh navigated with unwavering will. 

For instance, their platform was new and that made it difficult to convince charter and private jet owners to come on board. The startup founders would arrange meeting after meeting, present proposal after proposal, only to be met with hesitation and prolonged decision-making. 

“When we started Foresee Aviation, we knew this would happen. We weren't expecting a hunky-dory ride at all. The industry had never seen something like this, so warming up all stakeholders was a task we had signed up for,” startup founder Santosh Sharma explains.

With no fancy office or a large financial backing, Foresee Aviation built its team piece by piece, with Ajuka and Santosh managing end-to-end operations themselves, and solving problems others didn't even know were problems at the time. 

Eventually, the premium general aviation startup began to cover all aspects of business jet travel and evolved into a platform that specialized in aircraft charter, bulk hour sales, aircraft sales and purchases, etc. 

In 2009, entrepreneurs Ajuka Mahajan and Santosh Sharma catered to 10-20 clients.

By 2015, they were serving 100+ clients annually. 

“In the private jet industry, you have to understand that most of our clients are repeat clients. They book with us once and then come back again throughout the ysear,” Ajuka notes. 

Also Read: After Losing ₹1.5 Cr In Year One, This Startup Founder Bounced Back & Built ‘Brandola’ Into A ₹15 Cr Annual Revenue Offline Branding Biz

THE BEGINNING OF BOOKMYJET

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, a new chapter of premium aviation was flipped open. 

The charter plane market in India started booming, with more and more people prioritizing their health, their relationships with family and friends, and life in general. 

“During the pandemic, travelling via commercial planes was a risky move. We saw quite a few HNIs and UHNIs opt for private jets. Separate security. Separate waiting area. Small team. Ultimately, a smaller chance of contracting the virus,”startup founder Ajuka Mahajan explains. 

“COVID did something to everybody. People also realized the fragility of life and how hoarding money might not be the best approach. Gathering as many experiences as you can while you are here became the new motto. It continues even now, five years down the line,” Santosh Sharma mentions. 

But along with these inner realizations, the Indian consumer was also looking for speed and butter-smooth convenience. 

Quick commerce applications quickly began shaping consumer behaviour. 

Santosh Sharma and Ajuka Mahajan realized one thing: premium aviation needed a more modern, tech-driven, effortless experience that resonated with a generation that does not wait. 

So in 2021, they established BookMyJet, under Foresee Aviation, as a platform built out of everything they had learned, solved, and experienced firsthand.

The mission was straightforward and substantial: make India an operationally better space for charter planes and offer end-to-end convenience, speed, and transparency to the flyer.

Also Read: This entrepreneur is building a global fashion luxury brand from India; uses finest Italian linen, cashmere – Made Rs 10L Sales In 30 Days

BOOKMYJET: MAKING PRIVATE JETS ACCESSIBLE 

Today, BookMyJet runs as a Delhi-based tech-infused platform that simplifies private jet bookings in India from start to finish, making private aviation accessible, transparent, and efficient. 

What was once a process that involved long calls, endless negotiations, and chaotic journeys has now become as effortless as it can get. 

BookMyJet, as a platform, has made the user journey simple and quick:

1. Anyone can check nearby aircraft on the tech-driven platform. 

2. They can explore routes and get real-time options, with clear mentions of the size and class of aircraft available. 

“For instance, customers can choose a helicopter, a very light jet, light jet, mid-size jet, or a heavy jet,”Ajuka says. 

3. Once the customer sees all the details, they can book a private jet or helicopter in just two to three clicks. 

BookMyJet operates on a clear ethos: make everything transparent.

After the user enters their route details (for instance, Delhi to Mumbai), preferred timings, and the number of guests they want to fly with, they click on ‘Search’ and instantly get a list of all necessary details of the aircraft.

“From the journey time to the number of pilots, flight attendants, cabin height, luggage space – we keep our customers informed on every single thing. Technical specifications of the aircraft, like when it was built, what speciality it has; we also have a section for that. The aim is not just convenience, but also honest convenience,” entrepreneur Ajuka Mahajan explains. 

Apart from this, a base price and GST are included as a system-generated quotation. Users can click on ‘Get a Quote' and easily get the real-time price of the aircraft. 

BookMyJet, effectively, eliminates chaotic coordination from the process of private jet bookings and makes luxury what it was always meant to be: effortless and smooth.

The tech-infused platform’s customers are mostly HNIs, UHNIs, corporate houses, and foreign diaspora that comes to India for business and tourism.

“We see a lot of people also book private jets for occasion-driven travel with their families. For instance, a destination wedding, a birthday party of a dear friend, or an anniversary celebration,”entrepreneur Santosh Sharma says. 

Also Read: Father Earned ₹100 a Day to Support the Family, Son Builds a Hyderabad-Based College Mentorship Startup, clocked ₹5 crore in FY25

GROWTH OF BOOKMYJET

Currently, BookMyJet has a team size of 12 people across departments of sales, marketing, operations, and technology.

In 2021, BookMyJet, the tech-infused platform, served 400+ clients. 

In 2025, Ajuka and Santosh catered to 550+ clients who flew in private jets coordinated and arranged end-to-end by BookMyJet. 

“Our routes, for now, are all over India and in the UAE. We have a repeat customer rate of 70%, which means people who once fly via BookMyJet come back to have their next journey smoothened out too. Repeat customers matter a lot here. Because you need to do everything right to make them switch from brokers and agents and enter a do-it-yourself, convenient private jet discovery and booking platform,” Santosh Sharma tells Startup Pedia. 

As per the founders, the present annual revenue of BookMyJet is more than Rs 15 crore and is growing rapidly. 

WHAT'S NEXT: eVTOL, FUNDS, A LARGER TEAM

For 2026, BookMyJet, as a private aviation startup, wants to focus on expanding its team across all departments.

“We are also strongly deliberating raising funds and scaling the platform further,”Ajuka notes. 

Very soon, BookMyJet will become the first private aviation aggregator platform that offers eVTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing). eVTOL is a new class of aircraft that has vertical flight capability and uses electric power (instead of traditional gas engines) to take off, hover, and land straight up and down (without needing long runways). 

“Sixteen years in the Indian aviation industry have taught me one very important thing: people need speed, but not one that is compromised by greyness. You have to be transparently honest as well as convenient. That's exactly what we have built BookMyJet into – an honest, convenient tech-infused private aviation startup,” Santosh Sharma signs off. 

Also Read: Delhi Sustainable Startup Eliminates Cement In India’s Construction Industry, Making It Carbon Negative - Bagged TATA & Adani As Clients