New helicopter corridors are being planned, says Minister
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has announced a Rs.1,500 crore upgrade of Srinagar’s present terminal for expanding floor area to 60,000 sq m from 20,000 sqm and a Rs.861 crore civil enclave in Jammu.
Scindia announced the projects while inaugurating 4th Heli-India Summit 2022 on 10 Oct 2022, adding that the government is committed to increase the number airports in the country to above 200 in the next few years from the current 141.
Scindia told the summit that helicopters have multifarious roles, providing urban connectivity. The helicopter service also covers emergency medical services and disaster management during floods, rescue operations.
Three helicopter corridors from Mumbai-Pune, Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar and Shamshabad-Begumpet have been created and new corridors are being planned.
“Working with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), we have been able to allot helipad spaces from the design stage for all future expressways and major highways so that it can be used for the evacuation of accident victims,” he said
“And we have already commenced work on the upgradation of Juhu heli-base which is the largest in the country, to accommodate night operations and helicopter routes.”
The Minister informed that today the guidelines on Fractional Ownership Model have been released to help grow the non-scheduled operations.
“While our scheduled operations are on the fast track and we have increased the fleet size from 400 aeroplanes in 2013 to more than 700 in 2021-22, through these guidelines, we should be able to spur growth in the non-scheduled fleet too.”
Fractional ownership will lower the barrier on the cost of acquisition of helicopters and aeroplanes through pooled capital by multiple owners.
The summit, “Helicopters for last Mile Connectivity” was held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre, Srinagar. fiinews.com
