Its a scam. The sad thing is, the bloke behind it doesn't realise that its a scam
That's the bit I'm not sure about. There's really three options...
1. He genuinely wants to start an airline and believes he can, but he can't and won't. People who invest will lose their money.
2. He wants to start an airline as a way of making money, he expects to raise so much he can skim
and start an airline.
3. This is just a pure fraud; he has no intention of starting an airline but that provides a useful cover.
I can't suss out whether it is 1 or 3.