A new low-cost airline hopes to raise £5m through crowdfunding to offer cheap flights from the UK to India
A soon to be launched airline hopes to raise £5m through a crowdfunding campaign to run flights between the UK and two Indian cities Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
Called POP, which stands for "People Over Profit", the airline claims it will give back a minimum of 51% of its profits to charitable causes in both India and the UK.
Owners of POP hope to hit their crowdfunding target within 60 days. At the time of writing, the company had raised £8,000.
The airline is offering the first 10,000 investors, who spend £500 to snap up its "gold pass", one free off-peak return seat to any POP destination. Also, each of the first 7,000 people to buy a gold pass will have a name of their choice printed on the underside of the aircraft.
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The airline said it'll also offer its customers a 46kg hold luggage allowance, complimentary snacks and hot drinks, and seat selection.
Navdip Singh Judge, chairman and principal of POP, said: “This is an opportunity to make an investment in 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.”
The airline hopes its first flight will depart from Stansted Airport in the fourth quarter of this year to Amritsar using a 378-seat all-economy Airbus A330-300 aircraft.