OBITUARY: Dr Ankur Bhatia

All death is sad and unfortunate, but it is indeed disheartening to write an obit for a visionary and one so young. Dr Ankur Bhatia, who passed away due to a cardiac arrest last week, was a man with many hats and a constant thirst for new beginnings.

As Executive Director of Bird Group, he spearheaded the group’s growth into many sectors often disrupting traditional markets with his offerings. Ankur is credited with bringing the Amadeus brand to the Indian sub-continent in 1994, which today is the market leader in providing travel technology for travel agents & airlines. Amadeus celebrated 25 successful years of operations in India in 2019.

Thriving on decades of experience in the service industry, Ankur then spearheaded the Group’s foray into the hospitality sector with Bird Hospitality Services, and the Roseate Hotels & Resorts was born. Today the Group owns and operates six uber luxury properties in India and the UK, each having an individual brand identity.

In line with his commitment towards shaping the future of mobility in India, his vision for Bird Electric was constantly adding unique new age mobility vehicles as the exclusive distributor of Segway Personal Transporters (PTs) since the last 10 years.

He is also credited to have launched the country’s first natural and perennial indoor ice-skating rink and café – iSKATE, located in Ambience Mall, Gurugram, New Delhi.

While still pursuing his degree from King’s College, University of London and capitalising on the BPO wave in the travel domain, he piloted Reservation Data Maintenance (India), an IT enabled software development and service support company for managing back-end airline operations and inventory control. RDM was the first Indian BPO, which was established in 1993 and today has an enviable list of airline clients in its portfolio.

Bird Information Systems (BIS), another of his extremely successful ventures, provides state-of-the-art technology and solutions to various airlines. Also, to his credit is BirdRes, a B2B distribution channel for the travel industry and BirdApps,  an on-demand market place for the travel, hospitality and lifestyle sectors. He also opened a IT Solutions & Services company in Dubai, Bird Technologies FZ LLC.

He was an active member of various industry bodies and a member of CIIÊs National Committee on Aviation, Infrastructure and Luxury Retail. He served from 2006 – 2007 as the youngest elected Chairman for the Delhi State Council for Confederation of Indian Industries and was also a very active member of the World Economic Forum in India..

Ankur was conferred with the title of Honorary Consulate General of the Republic of Liberia in India, by Her Excellency the President of the Republic of Liberia. In September 2016, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Excellence.

A firm practitioner of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), he has institutionalised the concept of caring and giving at the Bird Group.

Elder of the two sons of a successful and affluent business family, Ankur is survived by his wife, Smriti, who is an architect, and his two children.

WOH News bids a fond adieu to a true entrepreneur.