Helicopter wars begin during Medaram jatara in Warangal

Hyderabad: The first commercial helicopter trip from Hyderabad to Medaram jatara in Warangal district was launched by Indwell Aviation Private Limited on Thursday.

The Hyderabad-Medaram-Hyderabad trip on a Bell 429 four-seater costs Rs 65,000 per head and a Warangal-Medaram-Warangal trip costs Rs 26,500 per head.

The Telangana government has granted permission to Atom Aviation Services and Indwell Aviation Private Limited to offer helicopter joy rides over Hyderabad and to Medaram where lakhs of people are attending the four-day jatara.

While Atom Aviation Services will start city rides from March 12 from Gachibowli, Indwell Aviation launched its flights to Medaram in Warangal from Hydera-bad on Thursday.

It will start its city rides from February 21 at Rs 3,900 per head from a newly constructed helipad near P.V. Narasimha Ghat near Sanjeevaiah Park. The 10-minute ride over the city will cover all the important landmarks from a height of 1,500 feet.

Assembly Speaker S. Madhusudhana Chary, tourism secretary B. Venkatesham along with his spouse went on the inaugural trip to Warangal on the request of the company. The company also ferried the first batch of four passengers to Medaram from Warangal.

Senior officials also did an aerial survey of the Medaram jatra, the cost of which will be borne by the government.

“The to-and-fro ticket includes VIP darshan at the Sammakka Saralamma temple and lunch in arrangement with the tourism department and local administration. The journey takes 1 hour 15 minutes one way. The whole trip is less than four hours. We are booking till Friday,” said Mr Vasudev Prasad, operations manager of Indwell Aviation.