Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Dec 24, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Dec 24, 2004 |
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Airlines Orient Flights to launch copter charter service Vipin V. Nair
Kochi , Dec. 23 ORIENT Flights, a Chennai-based charter service provider, plans to start a helicopter service to Kerala in the next three months, a top official of the airline has said. "We are now buying two helicopters. One will be stationed in Chennai while the other will be in Kochi," said Mr Anand Jacob Verghese, Additional Director of Orient Flight School, which runs the charter service. This is the first time Orient Flights is getting into helicopter charter services. It currently has a fleet of aircraft that includes Piper Seneca, King Air and Beechjet. It has conducted about 2,000 hours of chartered flights since 1993, Mr Verghese said. Orient Flights is investing $2.5 million in buying the Bell helicopters. "We hope to do 600 hours of chartered flights with these helicopters a year," he said. For one hour, the rate would be Rs 60,000 for this service. Orient Flights is now in talks with the State tourism department as it targets high-end tourists with its new services. It also plans to offer services to those tourist spots in the State that are difficult to access by other means. Mr Verghese said the demand for trained pilots in the country is set to rise in the coming years in line with the growth in air travel and the advent of low cost airlines. "In 2005, India will need some 100 qualified pilots," he said. He said Orient Flight School has so far trained 200-300 pilots. Every year it trains 50 students at a fee of Rs 10-15 lakh per student.
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