In a bold move set to transform the future of regional aviation in India, Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal is stepping into the skies with LAT Aerospace—a new startup aimed at redefining short-haul air travel across the country.
The announcement was made via a LinkedIn post by LAT Aerospace co-founder Surobhi Das, who outlined the inspiration and ambition behind the venture.
“While building Zomato and flying across India, Deepinder and I kept circling back to the same question: Why is regional air travel still so broken—expensive, infrequent, and mostly out of reach unless you live in a metro?” Das wrote, quoted PTI.
India currently has over 450 airstrips, but less than 150 are regularly used for commercial flights. This leaves a vast majority of the country’s aviation infrastructure untapped, even as millions of people in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities endure long, inconvenient road or rail journeys.
Das emphasized this gap in connectivity, noting, “That means nearly two-thirds of the country’s aviation potential remains untapped, even as millions in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities spend hours—sometimes days—travelling by road or rail.”
LAT Aerospace envisions addressing this challenge by creating a radically different model for regional air mobility. “Buses in the sky—affordable, high-frequency, and designed to connect the places the airline industry overlooked,” is how Das described the company’s vision.
To bring this concept to life, LAT Aerospace plans to build “air-stops”—compact, hyperlocal takeoff and landing zones designed to be no larger than a typical parking lot and situated closer to where people live.
“No chaos. No security lines. Just walk in and fly,” Das added, highlighting the simplicity and accessibility at the heart of LAT’s approach.
The venture signals a disruptive step toward democratising air travel in India and unlocking access for the millions living beyond the metros. With Goyal’s entrepreneurial prowess and Das’s strategic insight, LAT Aerospace aims to bridge the gap between India’s aviation potential and its people’s daily mobility needs.
