Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu virtually inaugurated the helicopter services on daily basis between Mandi-Chandigarh and Kullu-Mandi-Chandigarh today from his official residence 'Oak Over'. The Mandi-Chandigarh helicopter service would be operated under the Government of India's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS-UDAN), while the Kullu-Mandi-Chandigarh sector would be operated by Heritage Aviation Pvt. Ltd. on a Non-RCS (market-based) model.
The helicopter service from Kullu would be operated at 9.00 am and reach Mandi at 9.10 am, while it would depart from Mandi at 9.15 am and arrive Chandigarh at 9.45 am. From Chandigarh, the helicopter would fly at 10 am and reach Mandi at 10.30 am and from Mandi it would undertake sortie at 10.35 am and arrive Kullu at 10.45 am.
The services would operate from the newly developed Kangnidhar (Mandi) Heliport. Under the RCS-UDAN Scheme, the indicative airfare for the Mandi-Chandigarh sector has been fixed at Rs. 3500, whereas the indicative fare for the Kullu-Mandi-Chandigarh sector is Rs. 8500. Kangnidhar (Mandi) heliport, developed with modern passenger amenities and the requisite operational infrastructure, would serve as an important aviation hub for the central region of the state.
Congratulating the people of Mandi and Kullu districts for the commencement of helicopter services, the Chief Minister said that the state government has been making sustained efforts to strengthen air connectivity in the remote and hilly areas of the state. He said that with the commencement of these helicopter services another significant milestone has been achieved in the air connectivity.
He said that the services were expected to substantially reduce travel time, promote tourism and emergency response capabilities and provide greater convenience to residents as well as visitors. Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government remains committed to further strengthening aviation infrastructure through the development of heliports, enhancement of regional air connectivity and effective implementation of the RCS-UDAN Scheme in collaboration with the Government of India and other stakeholders.
Emphasizing the state government’s focus on tourism promotion, the Chief Minister said that heliports were being constructed at every district headquarters as well as at other prominent tourist destinations. He said that construction work on four heliports at Jaskot in Hamirpur district, Rakkar and Palampur in Kangra district and Chamba are on the last leg of completion.
These heliports would further encourage high-end tourists to visit Himachal more frequently, thereby increasing income and employment opportunities for local people. He said that state government has allocated funds for the construction of a heliport at Una and it was also contemplating to construct heliports at Nahan and Solan. He said that heliport was also being constructed at Rangrik in Lahaul-Spiti district with the collaboration of Army authorities.
Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani, Mayor Surinder Chauhan, Director Tourism Vivek Bhatia were present at Shimla while former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Lal, Vice Chairman, H.P. State Water Management Board Shashi Sharma, Congress leader Pawan Thakur, President District Congress Committee Mandi Champa Thakur, DC Apoorv Devgan, SP Vinod Kumar joined the event virtually from Mandi.