Deccan Aviation to launch air taxi services in Mumbai

Bangalore: Deccan Aviation is all set to expand operations of its SkyLimo service, with Mumbai as the next destination. ''We want to start the SkyLimo service from Nariman Point in Mumbai to the city's airport, a distance which takes about two hours by road during the peak hours,'' said Deccan Aviation chairman Captain GR Gopinath.

SkyLimo is the first of its kind air taxi service in India, and also offers a wide variety of general aviation services to its clients.

Launched in July this year, the helicopter service operates between Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) and selected centres in the city, such as the Electronics City, the Palace Grounds and the old HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics) airport. Services will be extended to the UB city from next week. The service deploys two helicopters.

''The helipad at the UB city will be a night landing facility,'' said Capt Gopinath.''Apart from this, many other landing spots are available on request within the city,'' he added.

Currently SkyLimo services are available only during the day, but very soon would become available at night as well.

Deccan also plans to extend services to Hyderabad. Capt Gopinath said he had already met the chief minister and that the company had already conducted a survey at the city.

SkyLimo is also providing operational and maintenance services for private jets, as well as fractional services.