JOY ROY CHOUDHURY – Kolkata
Pawan Hans recently started its operations from Kolkata. The inaugural ride in a twin-engine, 11-seater Dolphin chopper, manufactured by the France-based Eurocopter, took off from the helipad at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club in the heart of the city and hovered over the city’s landmarks.
The guests flew over the stately Victoria Memorial, the rain-soaked Maidan, vessels floating down the Hooghly and the two iconic bridges across it to mark the inauguration of the joyride. Passengers planning to enjoy the helicopter’ joyride have to dole out INR1700 for a single trip.
The service is part of a plan of the state government to connect Kolkata with the districts using choppers, seaplanes and fixed-wing planes and as per the terms of reference of the MoU signed earlier between Pawan Hans, a public sector company, and the state’s transport department. The move will help in developing infrastructure for different sectors like industry, tourism, healthcare, education and disaster management. Sanjay Kumar, general manager (marketing), Pawan Hans, said, “The chopper would be used to reach help to the districts during emergencies.”
“We the government representatives took the ride to check the safety and security issues and are quite satisfied. The noise inside was minimal and the experience was enjoyable,” said Madan Mitra, transport minister, West Bengal.
The company plans to start three kinds of services, including helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and seaplanes. ‘There are a lot of airstrips in the state like in Cooch Behar, that have not been utilised for long, which can be operated after conducting feasibility studies’, an official said. Mitra also said the operator would start finalising landing strips for the chopper in Digha, Haldia and Siliguri soon.
The helicopter services company plans to introduce fixed-wing aircraft services between Kolkata-Cooch Behar, Kolkata-Balurghat- Malda-Purulia and Kolkata-Asansol-Durgapur-Haldia sectors besides starting a seaplane service at Digha, besides keeping a chartered helicopter on standby at Kolkata. But the routes and other details are being worked out.
However, a city based tour operator said, “To make helicopter trips to these places viable, we need more high-end passengers. At this moment, Kolkata does not have the numbers to sustain such trips.”
