Zomato's Deepinder Goyal-backed Aircraft Start-Up Aims to Tackle Regional Air Connectivity Woes; Here’s How

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal is likely to strengthen his bet on small aircraft manufacturing to tackle regional air connectivity woes. While reflecting on the days when LAT Aerospace co-founder Surobhi Das and Deepinder Goyal travelled across India by flight to build Zomato, Das said both used to frequently discuss the state of regional aviation in India. In a LinkedIn post, the LAT Aerospace co-founder mentioned both used to think if air travel in India could become as seamless as the railways in the country. 

“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,” said Surobhi Das in the post. Think buses in the sky – affordable, high-frequency, and designed to connect the places the airline industry overlooked. Our aircraft will take off and land at compact air-stops -- no bigger than a parking lot—built closer to where people live. No chaos. No security lines. Just walk in and fly,” Das added.

LAT Aerospace is a newly founded aviation and aerospace component manufacturing startup. The 2025-founded startup is a venture started by Das and Goyal. LAT’s key focus is on manufacturing low-cost, short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft to enhance regional air connectivity in the country. 

Their possible move to enter regional aviation comes at a time when India’s airline industry is experiencing a boom. The aviation industry is projected to grow from $ 14.78 billion in 2025 to $ 26.08% in 2030 at 12.03% CAGR. The sector’s growth is also fueled by favourable legislative support from the government, including the regional connectivity scheme like Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) to improve airline connectivity in tier 2 and 3 cities. The increase in airports in India has attracted more players to enter the sector.