BENGALURU: In 15 minutes flat, you can reach the Kempegowda International Airport from Electronic City at Rs 3,500 plus GST starting from Monday.
Group Captain (retd) K.N.G. Nair, Chief Managing Director, Thumby Aviation, said, “We wanted to change the belief that helicopters are only for VVIPs and politicians, and that common people can only see them fly in the sky. The fare to reach the airport from the city in a normal or a luxury cab ranges between '4,500 and '13,000. Even then, you can't reach the airport in less than two hours.
Keeping the traffic and cost in mind, two years ago our team started exploring the possibility of launching the helitaxi service in the city.
He said, “As part of our Phase 1, two Bell 407 helicopters with a seating capacity of six will fly during peak hours of 6.30 am to 9.30 am and 3.15 pm to 6.15 pm.”
He pointed out that the city is dotted with 93 helipads and if his company gets enough requests and the necessary nod from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it is ready to engage them all.
"Under our Phase 2, we will cover ITC Gardenia in the heart of the city and Crown Plaza at Electronic City which have helipads and permission for helicopter operations. We are ready to also offer services per charter to tourist regions like Chikkmagaluru, Kodagu, Wayanad, Mysuru etc. If the tourist destinations do not have helipad facility, we will be able to set up the needed infrastructure at those locations," he said. At present, the company operates helicopters in Kerala, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
