2008, a year of helicopters: Tyagi

The last one year has witnessed several developments in helicopter services, so much so that 2008 has come to be known as the Year of Helicopters in India. This was stated by R.K. Tyagi, Chairman and Managing Director of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, a leading helicopter operator that owns 36 of 197 choppers in the country. He was speaking during an international conference as part of India Aviation 2008 here. Mr. Tyagi said flying by helicopters was not considered safe in the past but that was no longer the situation. They were being extensively used, particularly by political leaders, as a number of safety measures went into them of late. The usage of helicopters in a big way has led to creation of heliports in the country. They would come up shortly in New Delhi and Mumbai. About 55 million passengers were targeted to use helicopters in New Delhi by 2010, he said. Apart from hiring them to political leaders, Mr. Tyagi said, the helicopter services were confined to passenger movement in Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshwadeep islands and Vaishnodevi and Kedarnath shrines. Five helicopters also ferried passengers in north-east and three were exclusively used for emergency medical services. Meanwhile, US-based Bell Helicopter Company handed over its 100th chopper, 17th in the current year, to its Indian client Abir Infrastructure Private Limited in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Patel said there was potential for sale of 1,000 more choppers in India in the next five years.