Bengaluru will become the first city in the country to provide a helicopter taxi service, The Hindu reported. The Civil Aviation Ministry made the announcement on Friday.
The service will be operated by Thumby Aviation Private Limited who have partnered with the Bangalore International Airport Limited to start the Heli Taxi service. The helicopter service will initially be operated between Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport and the Electronics City area. The travel time will be cut down to 15 minutes instead of the two hours taken by road.
“I request the operators to price it at affordable rates,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said, according to News18. “That is what we have done with airlines. If heli-taxi prices are at pegged at air-conditioned cab prices, the demand will increase.”
The future projects will ferry passengers to Whitefield and to the HAL airport areas in the city. The initial operations will be launched with one Bell 407 chopper that can ferry six passengers, chief managing director of Thumby Aviation, Group Captain (Retd) KNG Nair told The Hindu.
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