New Delhi: American aviation startup Natilus marking its entry into the fast-growing Indian market with the launch of a local subsidiary, announced December 17 that India’s SpiceJet has ordered 100 of its blended-wing-body jets. The startup is also considering India as one of the possible locations for a manufacturing facility, and aims to build roughly 300 HORIZON jets at the site once complete.
According to industry group IATA, India’s aviation market is the fifth biggest in the world and is a lucrative hotspot for global carriers and plane makers driven by stronger post-pandemic demand for travel.
As per media reports, Natilus had said earlier that the process of selecting the site of its first US manufacturing facility has begun. Natilus’ CEO Aleksey Matyushev told a leading news agency, “I think there’s a huge opportunity for us to scale up into what could be actually a second manufacturing facility over there.”
We would work with Natilus to help it get certified in India and purchase the jets once regulatory hurdles are cleared, low-cost carrier SpiceJet said. Natilus said it would look at sourcing manufactured components from India, and its subsidiary, Natilus India, will be headquartered in Mumbai.
California-based Natilus, founded in 2016, San Diego, is among the companies looking to commercialise the blended-wing jet design concept, an idea that has been long explored in defence and experimental aircraft, but not mainstream airline service. Boeing and Airbus have also experimented with blended-wing-body concepts over the years.
Currently pursuing Part 25 certification for its HORIZON jet through the Federal Aviation Administration, Natilus expects HORIZON jet to hit the market by the start of the next decade. The HORIZON jet will sit in a similar narrowbody segment to Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320 jet family, while promising to deliver more interior space, lower fuel costs and half the operational costs of legacy jets.
