Pawan Hans launches first UDAN-RCS heli service in Uttarakhand
30 Jul 2020
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Minister of state for civil aviation Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday flagged off the first helicopter service of Pawan Hans in Uttarakhand under the UDAN-RCS scheme. This service will connect Dehradun, New Tehri, Srinagar and Gauchar.
Launching the service at a virtual flag-off ceremony in New Delhi, Puri said the heli service and opening of these new routes will bring people of the state closer and support tourism in the region.
The route was simultaneously inaugurated by Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from the state.
Commencement of the new heli services will enhance the aerial connectivity between hilly regions in Uttarakhand and bring down the average travel time to 20-25 minutes. This will also assist the Chaar Dhaam Yatra pilgrims.
Pawan Hans will operate thrice-weekly helicopter services on this route.
The fare for this route is Rs2,900 per seat. MoCA awarded the Dehradun- New Tehri – Srinagar - Gauchar route to Pawan Hans Ltd under the UDAN 2 bidding process. Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is provided to both operators and passengers under the UDAN scheme to keep the fares affordable for the common people.
Pawan Hans will operationalise two more networks connecting Dehradun to Ramnagar, Pantnagar, Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, and Dehradun to Mussoorie.
Puri congratulated Uttarakhand chief minister Trivender Singh Rawat and the people of thestate. With this launch, we are adding 6 more routes and 2 heliports at New Tehri and Srinagar, he said.
Since the launch of the first UDAN flight in April 2017 by Prime Minister from Shimla to Delhi, Puri said, 274 UDAN routes have been operationalised so far connecting 45 airports and 3 heliports.
Three rounds of UDAN have already been undertaken and so far close to 50 lakh passengers have travelled in UDAN flights covering airports in 19 states and 2 UTs. The fourth round of UDAN is under process. The scheme has been able to fulfill the vision of the prime minister and keep up the motto of “Sab Uden, Sab Juden,” he added.
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