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Helicopters have generally been perceived as something of use only by the armed forces, political leaders and corporate honchos. This trend is witnessing a gradual change of late. The use of helicopters by religious and leisure tourists have started opening up huge opportunities in the sector

Imagine a verdant countryside, complete with a stream of crystal clear water and no signs of pollution and crowds. You think of taking along your 4X4 vehicle for reaching this place, for you will have to cross hilly terrain and streams of water. But what if your trusty 4x4 isn’t capable of getting you there either? Cut to another scenario. You want to visit places like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kedarnath and you have only a day to do that. With no option of using commercial flights, it seems impossible. The solution to both problems lies in helicopters.Helicopters have, in fact, become an essential part of tourism in various parts of the world—Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, South Africa and Kenya being some prominent examples. It has, however, remained untapped, or at best under-tapped, in India for one reason or another. This piece is an effort to look into the opportunities that exist in the field of helitourism in India.

Modus operandi
Helicopter tourism is in its infancy in India. Bulk of the demand comes from corporate clients. Captain Puri of Air Charters India (a division of Stic Travels) says the demand for helicopters is more from Delhi compared to other metro cities. These heli-tours are mostly to places like Jaipur, Agra or religious places like Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand. “There are people who want to go to Agra in helicopters to see around the city even though it may be cheaper to land at the airstrip there by a plane,” he says.

Captain Puri says that helicopter tours in India are mostly overnight trips, where the chopper takes tourists to the destination, makes a night halt and flies them back. Madhusudan Rao of Akinos Flights, Hyderabad, says the demand for sightseeing and returning the same day is also there. Choppers, according to industry sources, can be chartered for anything from Rs 70,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh, depending on the aircraft chosen and the number of hours of flying involved. However, major industry players like Deccan Aviation sell heli-tourism packages of two to three days’ duration for places like Hampi, Belur and Mysore for Rs 2 to 4 lakh. In India, helicopter seats are generally not on sale except in some religious sectors. One has to charter the whole machine, unlike in foreign countries, Rao confirms.

Helicopter packages to religious places like Vaishno Devi and Amaranth are available on per-person basis. A Punjab-based travel company, for instance, offers different kinds of packages on the Katra–Sanjichhat sector for a visit to Vaishno Devi for prices ranging from Rs 1,600 to Rs 16,777 per person. The travel company also claims on its website that helicopter tourists get preference in getting darshan at the main shrine.

Helicopter companies do, however, need landing permissions from local administration at every place their choppers have to land. If the helipad is owned by private parties, they have to seek their permission as well. Sometimes clients seek permission for landing at certain places and the charter companies merely provide the choppers.

Types of helicopters
Different kinds of helicopters are deployed by charter companies. Rao’s company, for instance, uses charters with carrying capacity of two to 12. Deccan Aviation has some choppers that can accommodate up to 14 people. Usually single-engine helicopters are used for tourism purposes as they prove cost-effective. However, the type of helicopter to be deployed on a particular sector depends a lot on the topography—altitude, temperature and weather conditions. Some of the helicopters used in India are Bell 212, Bell 206, L3 Long Ranger, AS-355F Twin Ecureuil, Robinson R22, Augusta, Bell 407 and Chetak.

Potential in India
With a diverse topography, India has immense potential for encouraging and sustaining helicopter tourism. It can be a panacea for various tourism-related problems for potential areas like the north-east, Uttarakhand, the Andamans and Lakshadweep. Tourists—domestic or foreign—are dissuaded from traveling to these places as a lot of time is lost in traveling alone. In comparison Rajasthan, with lesser diversity, attracts far more tourists. A lot of credit for this should go to the easy accessibility to this state.

A surge has been seen in the number of pilgrims to Amarnath, Kedarnath and Vaishno Devi after Pawan Hans company started operating passenger services to these places. Similarly, the number of adventure tourists to India has also started increasing largely because helicopters have made it possible for them to access areas for skiing. Solang in Himachal Pradesh, for instance, has seen an increase in the popularity of heli-skiing (which is essentially skiing in areas not accessible by chairlifts).

The Andamans are accessible by flights and so is Lakshadweep. But these flights are costlier than the other option—of using ships—and is also quite time-consuming. Tourism to these areas can increase manifold if helicopters are deployed. These would be cheaper than air tickets and at the same time, faster than ships. Helicopter tours of the Golden Triangle—comprising Delhi, Agra and Jaipur—have also gained in popularity in recent years. Rao says his company has managed to sell only four to five heli-tourism packages in its eight months of operations. “Demand for heli-tourism comes mostly from corporate clients,” he says. “So far our bulk business has come from renting choppers to political parties and corporate players. However, heli-tourism seems to have immense potential.”

According to industry sources, the market size of heli-tourists in proportion to the entire tourist population in the country is negligible. Kerala Tourism Development Corporation started such services in association with Deccan Aviation in 2006. Packages like “Capital by Air,” “Backwaters by Air,” “Around the Hills,” and “Shoreline Flights” were started by another tour company. But these initiatives failed to attract many tourists. One of the managers working with this tour operator says, “Heli-tourism packages were not financially viable for most tourists. Helicopter tours will become popular once the issue of pricing is sorted out by private players with government help.” He says the market share of heli-tourism in overall tourism is less than even 1%.

Government initiatives
The central government has now also lent voice to the cause of heli-tourism in the country. The civil aviation secretary, M Nambiar, was quoted in the media saying that the government of India was contemplating serious measures to give a huge boost to the helicopter tourism sector hitherto totally neglected. He was also quoted recently by news agencies as saying, “The country has great potential for helicopter tourism, but requires just the right impetus to show growth and performance-oriented results.”

He said, “Separate corridors for helicopters and helipads in Delhi and Mumbai are on the priority list of the civil aviation ministry. India has a fleet of 150 civilian helicopters in the country as of now, which is expected to rise to 600 in the next few years.”

Nambiar did agree that high operational costs were proving a big deterrent in attracting tourists. He talked of making efforts to sell tickets for different helicopter packages in foreign countries.

Karnataka has also started working on projects to popularize heli-tourism as its minister for infrastructure development and tourism, G. Janardhan Reddy, was quoted in newspapers saying 20 helicopters would be purchased and put into service in the coastal corridor from Mangalore to Karwar and the Hampi–Bijapur circuit. The minister also said that a heli-tourism project would be launched in the state on the lines of the US-based Grand Canyon tourism venture. The Jammu and Kashmir government is also working on plans to boost heli-skiing in the state.

The future
Helicopter tourism may not have kicked off in India the way one would have liked, but all interested parties—the government, private players, tour operators, and aviation charter companies —know its huge opportunities. Private players are discouraged because of poor response from tourists and the reason for their reluctance is the high price of chartering helicopters. Wherever seats are sold on an individual basis to tourists, helicopter tourism has picked up. Religious tours in Amarnath, Kedarnath, Badrinath and Vaishno Devi are a testimony to these. Private operators need to charter their machines on a per-seat basis, but this is possible only when the government plays its part. Permission for landing should be made liberal and more and more helipads should be allowed to be built.

Private players and the government must act in unison to make sure helicopter tickets are also on sale in foreign countries for inbound tourists. Tourists who fear losing a lot of time in traveling to remote areas would then be inclined to consider a visit to India. The number of tourists to India would definitely surge on account of this, not just in already popular destinations, but also in relatively inaccessible areas.

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Exe
written by Jenny, February 03, 2011

Hello,

We are Flying Birds Aviation, a company that is in the business of Air Charter Services accrosss India. We provide various kinds of Aircrafts & Helicopters on rent/lease.

We are also dealers for Aircraft & Helicopters. We sell New & Pre-Used Aircrafts & Helicopters globally. If interested in purchasing an aircraft or helicopter, or looking for lease ... please email us to flyingbirds.charters@gmail.com

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written by Sanjeev Kumar, May 16, 2010

We are interested to initiate Heli-Tourism in different interstate locations of Bihar. Our route will be Vaishali, Rajgir, Pawapuri, Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Kesaria.

The trip will return the same day and the services would provide around the year.

We therefore, request you kindly to provide us your proposal including quotation/Rent of 6 Seater to 18 Seater Helicopter together with Business Terms so that we may discuss with my Board of Directors and go ahead in favour of business interest.

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written by planet kids, March 24, 2010

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IB.CO
written by hashemi noudehi, December 05, 2009

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