The commercial operations at Pune airport have been stalled for 14 days between October 16 and 29 due to runway closure.
Meanwhile, to avoid inconvenience to flyers, a private carrier has been allowed to operate helicopter service between Mumbai and Pune that will complete the journey in 40 minutes.
The chopper service from Kharadi in Pune to Juhu in Mumbai will cost Rs 15,000 per person. The service that will be available every day is being operated by private carrier Blade.
Chopper service timings
The choppers will take off from Kharadi and Juhu at 9.30am and 4.30pm respectively. The chopper service comes in the wake of the announcement by civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia last
week, according to a report.
With the start of the helicopter service, the commuters will be saved from five hours of road journey between Pune and Mumbai.
“It will be a very good option for fliers. The helicopter service will be a boon for industrialists as it will save a lot of time. For a city like Pune which is expanding with the number of people plying between Pune and Mumbai increasing, such a service is critical,” the report quoted aviation expert and former Air India Pune station in-charge, Dhairyashil Vandekar, as saying.