Hyderabad: The “Heli-Tourism’” project, launched with much fanfare in the city about 20 days ago, is facing hiccups. Absence of a permanent landing strip has resulted in new headaches for Indwell Aviation Private Limited, the company which began the tourism service.
Also, the ticket price is so low that the company is unable to meet the operating costs, and it has now begun having second thoughts on how to continue it. Trouble began when the Tourism department zeroed in on a small piece of government land at the Necklace Road, where Indwell was given the nod to set up a temporary helipad.
The Director General of Civil Aviation rules mandate a permanent strip and facilities like wind blowers, fire extinguishers (ideally fire engine), permanent fencing etc. to operate such services, sources informed.
In case of a temporary helipad, permission has to be taken from Air Traffic Control, Begumpet, but services can be operated only for one week in a month.
Accordingly, Indwell heli-hopped a good number of aerial enthusiasts in the first week.
About 450 people enjoyed the thrilling experience in the days the service was operated in March. The service can resume in April. However, uncertainty prevails over whether the helicopter rides will continue. Not only is the temporary air strip an issue, even the ticket cost (fixed at Rs 3,500 per individual for the 10-15 minutes ride) has become a factor. According to tourism officials, usually helicopter rides are charged at around Rs 90,000 per hour.
With the present ticket pricing and even after making four to five sorties in air, Indwell isn’t able to meet the expenses to run the services.
If the employees’ salaries are added, this has become a loss-making venture. Indwell wanted ticket price to be fixed at Rs 5,500 per individual, but the government did not agree to go beyond Rs 3,500.
