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These magnificent netas and their flying machines!
Come election season and the demand for aircraft soarsas netas air dash from one place to another to address meetings.
Parties use both helicopters and small planes to fly their leaders across the country; bigger parties such as the Congress and BJP finalised their aircraft requirements and chartered them long before the elections were announced.
The Congress hires the most, followed by the BJP and Samajwadi Party, according to market sources. The Aam Aadmi Party, true to its name, has not hired a single aircraft for its campaign, they say.
The Congress and the BJP, according to sources, typically hire 5-7 helicopters and 2-3 planes. You would, therefore, expect the aircraft owners or charter companies to make a killing during the election time.
After all, this is probably the only time they have political parties at their mercy.
But this is not really the case, say some operators. Gulab Singh Tanwar, Chairman, Saarthi Airways, who has been involved in chartering aircraft for the BJP, says since most parties complete their chartering much before the election dates are finalised, late comers end up paying a premium of 10-15 per cent on the charter rates.
Profits He maintains that election time is not when charter companies make huge profits. For a helicopter to make money, it needs to be in the air for nearly 400 hours a year — a little over an hour every day — and a for a plane, it is 500-600 hoursto make profits. “During election time, a charter operator will be able to squeeze in about 100 hours of flying. Is that making a killing,” he asks. However, there are others who do not agree with Tanwar. Some operators said the demand for choppers was so highthat it gets difficult to meet the expectations of the politicos.
Market rates have also doubled. So, a chopper that was earlier available for ₹1.5 lakh an hour now costs ₹2.5 lakh, with a minimum charge for two hours. The rates for a single-engine helicopter have nearly doubled from ₹75,000-80,000 to ₹1.60 lakh an hour, and the parties have to pay for at least three hours.
Jet aircraft are available from ₹ 1.10 lakh an hour and this goes up to ₹2 lakh.
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