Pawan Hans management hopes to acquire the relevant approvals from the concerned ministries, reported ETTravelWorld
Pawan Hans, the public sector Mini Ratna helicopter company, wants to connect destinations on the international Buddhist circuit in India and Nepal, through helicopter services. Connecting these Buddhist destinations is currently under the consideration of the central Ministries of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Pawan Hans management hopes to acquire the relevant approvals from the concerned ministries, reported ETTravelWorld.
Sanjeev Razdan, Chairman & Managing Director of Pawan Hans Limited, said that the proposal was to facilitate smoother connectivity for international Buddhist tourists landing either in Varanasi or Gaya to visit other important destinations linked to Buddhist pilgrimage sites. International tourists landing in Varanasi or Gaya today are taken either by coach or by train to those destinations which is both time-consuming and logistically challenging for visitors.
“If the proposal gets the central approval with VGF support, Pawan Hans has plans to start the service with a single helicopter and then increase the capacity based on the market demand”
“70 per cent of the Buddhist traffic is international and comes in groups of 10 to 15. They want to see all the important places associated with the life of Lord Buddha. If we can offer them air connectivity for all those places, they would definitely prefer that,” Razdan said. Pawan Hans proposal is to create two hubs in Varanasi and Gaya and operate three services each clock-wise and anti-clockwise connecting Gaya -Kushinagar – Lumbini – Sravasti – Varanasi with night halts either in Varanasi or Gaya. Razdan said that Pawan Hans had identified MI-172 helicopters with 26-seater capacity as an ideal model to be deployed on the circuit.
Since connectivity will be largely between heliport to heliport, Razdan said they would have to operate with reduced capacity as well. Since Lumbini in Nepal is also part of the itinerary, the operations would require bilateral approvals as well, he added.
If the proposal gets the central approval with VGF support, Pawan Hans has plans to start the service with a single helicopter and then increase the capacity based on the market demand.
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