How to open your airline from scratch? To get started, raise capital - 200-250 million rubles will be enough to start, in addition, get ready for the fact that these funds cannot always be returned. Air disasters, force majeure, adverse weather conditions prompted the Federal Air Transport Agency to reduce airlines in the market. But stimulated to strengthen existing firms. Therefore, experts do not advise starting a business in this direction, and experts from the Tulpar group of companies join their opinion.
Private airline: what to look for in the business planning phase
There are several features that should be studied before you open your airline and begin to begin business development. Among them are the following:
- Get ready for the fact that the food market is a competitive environment and you will have to constantly stay afloat.
- To start any business, you will have to attend training, which requires a considerable investment: one flying device in the form of a simulator will cost almost as much as a real plane.
- Air service is a low-margin business in need of highly qualified services.
- Before you open your airline, you should know that the internal arrangement of the aircraft requires the creation of special conditions. Sometimes, for the decoration of the interior of the sides, a whole production is opened and qualified engineers are recruited.
- It will be difficult to replenish the list of orders with regular or regular transportations due to the fact that there are practically no “non-attached” customers on the market.
Handling Features
But in this business there are not only shortcomings. Nevertheless, it is possible to find a loophole in the airline business. Beginners can practice handling - ground handling flights.
How it works? You, as an intermediary, represent the interests of the airline, establishing relationships with air companies. Such employees, called supervisors, are involved in:
- organization of flights;
- negotiate with airport owners the time of arrival and departure of the boards;
- are involved in escorting the crew;
- control the supply of food, maintenance, refueling and cleaning;
- provide the team with transport and accommodation.
Handler Responsibilities
If you are thinking about how to open your airline, then remember that often handlers do not clean aircraft and do maintenance personally. To do this, hire specially trained personnel. Among their responsibilities is the organization of these processes. It is unprofitable for the company to maintain a large staff of workers performing these functions separately, it is better to hire one person who will take over the duties and will be engaged in such work.
Maintaining a large company’s staff is not only disadvantageous, but also inconvenient, because everyone needs to solve a number of issues regarding their work, and the owner should be staffed by a team, while each of the personnel has their own qualifications, experience and knowledge in a particular area.
What a novice businessman should know
The owner of such a business should have a concept of the operating principle of such an industry as the aviation industry, organization of flights, and the functioning of airports. He must be knowledgeable in all technical aspects. Therefore, before opening your airline, think about the responsibility that awaits you.
You can start organizing the work of the company without an office. Regulate processes - remotely while at home or in a car. As the company develops, it will be necessary to rent a room at the airport base so that the supervisors working with you can easily and without difficulty get to the place (to the plane) and begin to carry out their duties.
What other challenges will you face? Know your competitor in person! You should be familiar with market participants: airlines, aircraft owners, the client sector. Last of all, they begin to search for a starting client: where, how and with whom to agree on a deal.
Investment volumes
As you already understood, a start-up capital is required to open a business. 5-10 million rubles will be enough to complete the first order. Having figured it out, you will understand that you will receive all these funds back: the company will reimburse them at the end of the transaction, and as a premium, the agent is paid a reward.
Spending on advertising in the field of aviation services is impractical. Sometimes they place online ads to attract customers, but such a popularization is targeted.
Where to get the funds?
Experts do not recommend getting involved in lending when opening a new airline. The peculiarity of such a business is its low margin, which is why credit interest eats up the entire agent’s income. For this reason, businessmen often go negative. For a startup, this option is not preferred. It is more profitable to sell free real estate, and invest the collected funds in business. Sometimes an investor is needed to open an airline. State support funds are not interested in this type of business.
Business Organization: Walkthrough
To work in the airspace and successfully advance in business, follow the brief instructions for organizing your own business:
- Decide on an idea.
- Set a goal.
- Gather capital.
- Pick up the staff. 2-3 people are enough to start. As the business grows and grows, more employees will have to be hired.
- Hire a handler. Only work with experienced and reliable people.
- Establish long-term relationships with contractors. Sometimes, by agreeing on long-term cooperation in the service sector, it is possible to achieve discounts of up to 15% on the provided package.
- Organize shift work of the company. The airline business involves around-the-clock operation.
Before you open an airline from scratch, you must understand what you need it for. For example, Russian Post plans to open its airline for an organized delivery of goods from abroad. So customers will be able to receive their packages faster with an insignificant change in the cost of delivery of goods.
There are no pitfalls in this business, and force majeure is rare if you work with professionals and yourself understand what you are doing. When working in the airspace, be prepared for irregular and sometimes even exotic orders, for example, to Algeria or Paraguay. Sometimes it is necessary to deliver people or goods to small unfamiliar cities, where airports work by order, and the runway is of poor quality. It is difficult to organize such a flight. That is why Russian Post wants to open an airline whose existence will simplify the organization’s work. Therefore, for your handling business to exist for a long time, you must be well versed in your business.