Chopper firms bet big on Pune-Mumbai route

Cashing in on the closure of Pune Airport for over 16 hours for repairs, several helicopter companies are offering travellers a ride on the Pune-Mumbai route, which is becoming a hot destination for many chopper services.

These include Global Vectra, United Helicharters Pvt Limited (UHPL) and Venture Aviation, which are charging Rs 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh depending on the capacity of the helicopter.

The rate per traveller for this 40-minute ride comes to around Rs 10,000 per person as most of these choppers can accommodate 10 to 12 people. This is nearly double than what is charged for an aircraft ticket.

Every day, Pune Airport handles 33 flights, out of which six operate between Mumbai and Pune carrying around 800 passengers.

The helicopter operators are aiming at the companies which fly a large number of executives between the two cities. The companies said the executives reached their destination in half the time (40 minutes for travel and a 20-minute ride from the private helipads in the outskirts of the city), compared with the road journey, which took over two hours to two-and-a-half hours.

"A number of executives cannot waste time on a taxi or a bus ride between Pune and Mumbai, which are slowly becoming important corporate destinations. They will not mind spending around Rs 75,000 for a quick ride as it saves them a lot of time," said an executive of the Goa-based operator, Venture Aviation, which is also looking at operations to neighbouring places like Nasik, Aurangabad and Nagpur.

"We will initially start with one 12-seater helicopter and provide services whenever there is a demand. Later we will start 2-3 trips a day," said a Global Vectra official.

Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd, headquartered in Mumbai, mainly serves oil and natural gas companies like ONGC and Reliance Industries Ltd.

Others like UHPL are also planning to start frequent services on the route. "We will use a 12-seater helicopter. The fare per trip will be Rs 90,000," said a UHPL spokesperson.

Helicopter services for business travel are seeing a boom with more and more big names like Tata and Reliance starting services for their own executives.