Air-taxi proposal remains grounded

Patna: The hopes of Bihar's jet-setting denizens may take a long time to get wings. The state government is in a fix over the proposal from a private agency to allow it to fly air-taxi services within the state.
A private air-taxi provider, Spirit Air, had submitted a proposal (a copy of which is available with TOI) to CM Nitish Kumar about a year ago to allow it to operate air-taxis.
"We had made a request to the CM for allowing us to operate the first ever air-taxi services in Bihar," said captain N Shivram of the Spirit Air Pvt Limited, which has operating permit from the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) and ministry of civil aviation, government of India.
"Its introduction will promote tourism; connect the state capital with different district headquarters; generate employment; and to top it all make Bihar the first state in India to have its district headquarters and tourist centers connected with air," Suresh Prasad, a senior official of Spirit Air Pvt Limited said, quoting from a letter to CM.
The firm's proposal to position air-taxi and set up an aircraft maintenance base at Muzaffarpur airfield will invite an investment of Rs 20 crore.
Spirit Air is a non-scheduled airline with its operational base at Bengaluru and Kolkata.
04/04/11 Times of India

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Categories: New Apr 2011