POP looks to crowdfunding to get off the ground
POP, a new low-cost, long-haul UK airline in the making with Indian DNA, is being established as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) business, having just launched its rewards-based crowdfunding campaign.
POP aims to be the only airline to operate non-stop flights from the UK to Amritsar and Ahmedabad and has been founded on a ‘caring capitalism’ business model.
The company will donate a minimum of 51% of its profits to charities in both countries. In addition to providing flights from the UK, POP - together with its customers - will be improving the lives of the most disadvantaged in the UK and in the Punjabi and Gujarati communities it will be serving.
POP (an acronym for ‘People Over Profit’) aims to not only be the only current airline to operate non-stop flights between the UK and two of India’s key secondary cities – Amritsar (Punjab) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat) but it also aims to be giving back a minimum of 51% of its profits to charitable causes in the communities it serves in both countries.
POP requires £5m to launch the airline’s first-year operation. This will be raised by a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign, which opened on Wednesday, 1 June, and which will continue for the next 60 days. The crowdfunding is being organised by London’s Trillion Fund Ltd and a bespoke Trillion on-line crowdfunding platform has been integrated into POP’s website (www.flypop.co.uk).
POP’s vision is to create an ‘Enhanced-Value’ airline, providing non-stop flights between the UK and the second cities in the nations of the developing world.
The aim, based on extensive market research, is to meet the demand of the growing visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market as well as the expanding leisure-tourism and business sectors, at the same time as improving the lives of the most disadvantaged in the communities that POP will be serving.
(Nino) Navdip Singh Judge, Chairman & Principal of POP, has a background as a senior manager both within the City and the world of Formula 1. He said: “This is an opportunity to support a new airline business with a unique proposition. We will be the first airline to respond to the emerging demand from the expanding Indian middle class for non-stop flights between the UK and India’s key secondary cities. But more than that, supporters will be funding social change through POP’s philanthropic-giving to community causes, breaking new ground in terms of corporate social responsibility.
“We are also giving the first seven thousand supporters the option to have their names on the aircraft belly of POP’s fleet. The POP belly logo will be designed out of supporters’ names. This is another example of how our community will be a part of POP from the very beginning.”
It is anticipated that the first POP flight will depart from Stansted Airport this year in Q4 (2016) to Amritsar using a 378-seat all-economy Airbus A330-300 aircraft in POP livery. POP initially plans to operate three services weekly to each of Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
The aircraft will be on a full charter basis and will move towards an ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance) arrangement over time, but all other organizational aspects will be managed by POP. The company has provisional plans to apply for its own full Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) but will continue to lease its aircraft, probably on an aircraft-only basis, which should yield greater financial returns to POP and to its supported causes.
At present, there are few direct flights from the UK to any of India’s important secondary cities and there is a fast-growing VFR, leisure/tourism and business market for such flights amongst India’s rapidly expanding middle class. POP’s CSR model will resonate particularly strongly with this target market. The Air Services Agreement (ASA) between the UK and India permits seven scheduled services per week on any route between the UK and India, other than Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. No UK airlines are currently operating non-stop services to Amritsar and/or Ahmedabad.