A few years ago, Govind Nair, then a sales consultant with the personal care products maker Colgate-Palmolive, was caught in the egregious traffic snarl that India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, has become infamous for. He had thought little of the problem that day and underestimated the commute time to the airport from Electronic City, an IT hub.
As his chances of making it to the airport on time dimmed, a distressed Govind dialled his father KNG Nair and informed him of his misery. In jest, he added that Nair, who operated the Kerala-based helicopter charter service company Thumby Aviation Private Ltd, should send a chopper to airlift him. While the plea didn’t quite yield results, and Govind missed his flight, the wearying experience gave the father-son duo the germ of a business idea.
The idea took wings on March 6 this year as Thumby Aviation’s (and also India’s) maiden heli-taxi took off from Electronic City and landed at the helipad in Kempegowda International Airport (KIAL), flying over serpentine snarls and covering the 65 kilometre distance in under 30 minutes.
The company’s heli-taxi service is now a daily affair. It currently shuttles just one helicopter, a US-made six-seater Bell 407, with services being offered every half hour during two shifts: The first one between 6 am and 9.30 am and the second between 3.30 pm and 6 pm. A one-way seat on the chopper costs ?3,500, excluding the 18 percent goods and services tax.
“It costs anywhere between ?1,500 and ?2,500 to hire a cab between Electronic City and the airport,” Govind, 29, tells Forbes India. “If you choose the luxury cabs offered by Uber or Ola, it costs even more. Cabs booked from hotels cost ?3,500. So we have priced it reasonably and it takes less than half-an-hour, compared with two hours by road.”
24/04/18 Manu Balachandran/Forbes India
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As his chances of making it to the airport on time dimmed, a distressed Govind dialled his father KNG Nair and informed him of his misery. In jest, he added that Nair, who operated the Kerala-based helicopter charter service company Thumby Aviation Private Ltd, should send a chopper to airlift him. While the plea didn’t quite yield results, and Govind missed his flight, the wearying experience gave the father-son duo the germ of a business idea.
The idea took wings on March 6 this year as Thumby Aviation’s (and also India’s) maiden heli-taxi took off from Electronic City and landed at the helipad in Kempegowda International Airport (KIAL), flying over serpentine snarls and covering the 65 kilometre distance in under 30 minutes.
The company’s heli-taxi service is now a daily affair. It currently shuttles just one helicopter, a US-made six-seater Bell 407, with services being offered every half hour during two shifts: The first one between 6 am and 9.30 am and the second between 3.30 pm and 6 pm. A one-way seat on the chopper costs ?3,500, excluding the 18 percent goods and services tax.
“It costs anywhere between ?1,500 and ?2,500 to hire a cab between Electronic City and the airport,” Govind, 29, tells Forbes India. “If you choose the luxury cabs offered by Uber or Ola, it costs even more. Cabs booked from hotels cost ?3,500. So we have priced it reasonably and it takes less than half-an-hour, compared with two hours by road.”
24/04/18 Manu Balachandran/Forbes India
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