Chopper industry facing bad weather; experts give rescue tips

New Delhi: With the country's helicopter industry facing grave financial crunch, officials and experts on Wednesday recommended a series of measures, including fiscal, to encourage the emerging sector having tremendous potential.
The high cost of operations, coupled with high taxation, was virtually nipping the emerging sector in the bud, chopper industry officials said on the sidelines of a seminar on 'Heli tourism' here.
However, top government officials, including the Secretaries of Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministries, said that government is planning a series of major projects to develop suitable infrastructure in different parts of the country to promote helicopter operations.
"Heli tourism has been a little explored area ... and is now becoming a niche market ... We have a total fleet of about 150 helicopters at present and we expect this to rise to about 600 in the next few years," Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar said at the seminar.
Several initiatives to expand helicopter coverage in the country were on the anvil, including creation of dedicated heliports in Delhi and Mumbai, separate chopper corridors, parking bays and maintenance facilities, he said.
Nambiar's counterpart from the Tourism Ministry S Banerjee said while tourist traffic growth levels have recently slowed down due to the financial downturn in the US, "there is a great positive outlook" for foreign tourist arrivals into India.
Both officials maintained there is a great scope for chopper operations in the country to provide access, not only to remote and difficult terrain, but also to the hinterland.
01/10/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2008