Ameerh Naran, CEO of Vimana Private Jets, has built a successful career in private aviation going over and above his high-net-worth clients’ expectations, but for his next venture, Naran Automotive, he returns to his original passion for supercars.
When one of the most high-profile reality TV families needed to depart Mykonos, Greece, at 4.a.m. on a public holiday, their usual private jet brokers informed them it was an impossible feat. Enter Ameerh Naran, then representing Blue Star Jets, who was more than willing to rise to the occasion.
“I immediately got hold of the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Tourism and airport manager, and reached out to the Greek government,” Naran recalls. “I explained that these were my clients, this is the viewership they have worldwide, and if you don’t convince the airport to open it for us it would be a national embarrassment because it will be on a reality TV show.”
This audacious move not only earned Naran the admiration and future business of the family but exemplified the entrepreneur’s indomitable determination, which has defined his career to date.
Born in Zimbabwe, Naran’s journey into private aviation was rather serendipitous, beginning with ventures involving gold and diamonds, driven by a chance meeting with an associate in Las Vegas. “As I was from Africa, I reckoned I could help source them, which I did,” he says. “But I nearly got kidnapped in the process and attempted a lot of high-risk deals!”
When the same associate introduced Naran to movie producer and founder of Halcyon Jets, Spike Lee, the resourceful entrepreneur was prompted to consider another pursuit. Lee was seeking an individual to lead his private jet operations in Africa, but achieving an exclusive agreement for the region with Halcyon Jets proved to be an elusive task. “After googling the biggest jet companies I managed to get Blue Star Jets to give me exclusive rights to the continent and signed a ten-year agreement,” recalls Naran. It was a savvy and bold move, given Naran had zero experience in running a private jet company, but thanks to mentoring from industry veterans Dennis Jans of CharterJet International and Joseph Amissah of Blue Cube Aviation, whom he contacted via social media, Naran thrived — and was responsible for expanding the company into Asia, Europe and the Middle East during his six years as Managing Director.
Following the dissolution of Blue Star Jets, Naran seized the opportunity to chart his own course. He established Vimana Private Jets in 2016 — and reached out to his biggest spending clients at Blue Star Jets to bring them on board.
“I wanted to focus on the clients who were spending USD $1 million a month on private jet travel and managed to get most of them,” explains Naran. His strategy revolved around offering these clients the same or superior level of service, all under a stringent no-advertising policy. Naran elaborates, “At Blue Star Jets, we had a full page in the Wall Street Journal every Thursday, we were the title sponsor for The Apprentice with Donald Trump and a Polo Championship Tournament. We became a household name in the States and I disagreed with it strongly because we would get 100 calls a day from prospective clients, none of whom could afford it because they had no idea of the costs.”
Being a Zimbabwean native, Naran also made the strategic decision to relocate his operations team to Zimbabwe, driven by a desire to give back to his home country and capitalise on significant cost advantages that could be passed on to his clients.
“Initially, I managed to move 20 clients across, including the high-profile family,” he says. “And then we grew to where we are now but focused on the very top-end. People who fly private are already a very rarified group of people but we cater to the one per cent of those.”
The extensive global fleet at Vimana’s disposal is particularly appealing to these high-net-worth clients. And while Vimana has access to 5,000 aircraft worldwide Naran says that most of them tend to fly in VIP airliners, large aircraft like Boeing 767s or Airbus A320s. Reconfigured for just 30 to 40 passengers, or even fewer, these jets benefit from spacious bedrooms, ensuite bathrooms and lavish lounges.
“We have arranged for hairdressers, makeup artists and masseurs to board the aircraft so that they can go straight to an event and then fly to the next destination,” adds Naran, who is on speed dial for many recording artists and celebrities, as well as Fintech founders, Heads of State and corporations. “They use it more as a sort of flying apartment than a means of transport.” But perhaps what Vimana Private Jets is best known for is ‘making the impossible possible’, from getting an airport opened when no one else can to sourcing planes when others couldn’t, just like Naran did in Greece. “It’s my dog-headed drive that sets us apart from our competition because I never take no for an answer,” he says with a grin.
Yet amid his achievements in the world of private aviation, Naran has always held a childhood dream close to his heart. “I’ve always wanted to set up my own car company and that’s what I decided I wanted to do when I was four years old,” he explains. This passion led Naran to study Product Design with a focus on automotive at the University of Sussex and pursue motorsport with the ambition of eventually entering Formula 1. However, the financial challenges of realising his racing dream forced Naran to pivot his attention.
“I figured I would focus on making my own money so I could set up my own fund for my racing,” he explains. “So the private jet business and all my other ventures have all been a means to an end.” With the launch of Naran Automotive, he is ready to make his mark in the world of hypercars, with the goal of becoming the fourth major player in hypercar manufacturing alongside Bugatti, Pagani, and Koenigsegg.
The limited edition ‘Naran’ is his vision of the ‘ultimate’ car, designed and built to his specifications with the expertise of Naran’s 15-strong “dream team”. Notably, the ‘Naran’ features a four-seat design, a departure from the traditional two-seat hypercar model.
“I wanted to create a four-seater because one day I want to get married and have children, and there’s nothing at that level to accommodate four occupants,” he explains. Naran is building 108 cars, with 49 being Coupes and two other variants, a convertible, and a rally car. “My racing number when I was a child go-karting in Zimbabwe, aged 14, was 108, which I consider to be my lucky number,” he reveals.
And his passion for cars goes beyond business; it’s deeply personal. He believes in selling to individuals who share his passion for cars and will drive them. For him, owning a car means having an obligation to drive it and sharing the experience with others.
“I don’t want to sell to people who are going to park them in garages as part of a collection and we will do everything in our power to make the cars become an appreciating asset,” he says. “When I was young, there were so many occasions where I would see a beautiful car on the street. One time I asked my Dad to speak to the owner so I could see it and he offered me the opportunity to drive it.”
As Naran reflects, “people have always been incredibly kind to me”, and it is this generosity that drives his commitment to giving back to the world. His philanthropic efforts extend to various causes, including his involvement as a benefactor of amfAR and his personal investment in centres in Zimbabwe, designed to assist disabled children and underprivileged teenagers. Naran’s dedication to making a positive impact reaches even further, having established partnerships across Africa to mitigate climate change and promote green energy solutions through carbon credit initiatives. He also owns the second-largest carbon credit program in Zimbabwe.
Beyond his charity work, Naran is an active Member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and frequently serves as a sought-after speaker and mentor.
“I believe I was given an unfair advantage in life, and that is the mindset,” he says. “I’ve always had this belief that I can have or do anything I want because that’s what I was told from a young age. As I got older, I found more and more people are brought up with limiting beliefs and told the world is difficult or it’s hard to do things whereas I was doing the opposite. How I feel I want to give back is changing that mindset.
“Generally people are very kind and will go out of the way, especially if they have made it because with nobility comes obligation. If the universe is kind enough to give you educational wealth, you have a moral obligation to behave in a certain way which is to help people.”