King Rotors and Air Charter Pvt Ltd, in association with the city-based Air Travel Enterprises India Ltd, has started helicopter services in the State.
Launching the company's helicopter services in the city today, the Kerala Law Minister, Mr M. Vijayakumar, said that transport, tourism and communication offer significant growth opportunities in the State. The aviation training centre at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport will soon by fully functional, he added.
To begin with, the company will station a six-seater helicopter in Thiruvananthapuram, said Mr K.N.G. Nair, Managing Director, King Rotors and Air Charter Pvt Ltd. The company will offer helicopter flights from Thiruvananthapuram to important tourism destinations in the State such as Kumarakom, Munnar and Thekkady.
It will also offer flights to pilgrim centres in Kerala and to tourism destinations in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, he added.
Tourism packages
Several helicopter tourism packages such as `capital by air', `backwaters by air' and `fly the hills' are also being offered. The helicopter will also be available for charter for medical evacuations and use during natural calamities. The company is also looking at offering emergency medical evacuation services from the Sabarimala temple, he added.
It will be interesting to see how this works. Meghalaya, Sikkim and some other states have scheduled helicopter services operated by Pawan Hans. Perhaps they have enough traffic due to politicians and bureaucrats, but one wonders if they really break even. Probably this is another example of "social obligations" which compel the regular airlines to have a certain quota of flights to the Northeast.