Hyderabad: Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu is the highest flying politician this election season. He has taken 15 chartered flights in the past two weeks of his election campaign.
A close second is cine actor Pawan Kalyan who has only recently entered politics, but has already notched up 11 flights in two weeks. Begumpet airport has been kept busy with their comings and goings.
Among the other frequent fliers are Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah who have made 10 trips each in the last two weeks.
At current commercial rates, a single trip costs between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 8 lakh depending on the distance. Five chartered flights were booked from Shamashabad airport (Rajiv Gandhi International Airport) between April 1 and 7, and nine flights from April 8 to date, but the details of passengers is not available.
All the main political parties, TD, BJP, Congress and TRS have made advance bookings and over the next few days a bigger rush of politicians taking to the skies is expected.
Turbo Aviation Private Limited, a private company with a fleet of four helicopters and two other aircraft is the main chartered operator. Helicopters owned by aviation schools like Wings Private Limited are also available for commercial purposes and are all currently booked for criss-crossing the state.
A top official from Turbo Aviation Private Limited said that the rush is expected to double in the next three days and last for the coming three weeks. “Most political parties have already made advance bookings for the next 10 to 12 days. In the next two weeks, Narendra Modi will be flying thrice this side for campaigning. All our four helicopters and two aircraft have been booked for the next three weeks,” said the official.
