Crisis costs add up in flying returns

Ranchi: Private aviation firms are the only ones smiling amid the prevailing political uncertainty of Jharkhand.
For, the state government chartered as many as four private aircraft since January 8, the day chief minister Shibu Soren lost the Tamar by-election, adding to the seven it had booked in December ’08, thereby setting back the exchequer by over Rs 50 lakh.
According to a civil aviation department official, chartered plane service providers charge anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 per hour. Fuel charges and waiting charges at airports are extra.
Most of these chartered planes are six-seaters.
If an aircraft is booked for an entire day, the bill can run up to as much as Rs 7.5 lakh provided it is flying a distance of around 1000-1500km.
A typical round trip to New Delhi, provided the VIPs return the same day, would come up to anything between Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
For instance, on January 8 Soren, his predecessor Madhu Koda and former human resources minister Bandhu Tirkey chartered an aircraft from Delhi-based Ran Air. They returned on January 10 by a service flight. The cost worked out to around Rs 5 lakh for the onward journey.
Another aircraft, this one belonging to Delhi-based Asia Aviation, was used separately by Durga Soren, the chief minister’s elder son, and Governor Syed Sibtey Razi.
While Razi used it on January 8 to return to the state capital from Delhi — he had to as the chief minister’s loss in a by-election meant Raj Bhavan had to assume centrestage — Durga used it the next day.
Moreover, two aircraft were booked from Delhi-based Air Charter Services Private Ltd for January 11 and 12 apparently to ferry over a dozen UPA members to Delhi to stake claim to form the next government in Jharkhand. But that move fizzled out, and the aircraft wasn’t used.
Air Traffic Control officials were quick to wash their hands off private plane usage, saying their job is to steer them in the air during landings and take-offs and provide parking facilities when required.
18/01/09 Amit Gupta/The Telegraph

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2009