Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav launched the intra-state air service ‘PM Shri Paryatan Vayu Seva’ on Thursday. He flagged off the first flight from Bhopal to Jabalpur and handed out boarding passes to flyers and inaugurated a ticket-booking counter for the new service.
With this launch, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, Rewa, Khajuraho, and Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh will be connected by air, officials said. To promote the new service, a 50 percent discount on fares will be offered for 30 days, they added.
The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB) will operate the new air service. It is being run on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis with M/s Jet Serv Aviation Private Limited (Flyola), according to an official release.
Some flyers mentioned that the fare for the intra-state air service will be slightly higher than the Vande Bharat Express train fare after the 50 percent discount for 30 days. They also said that it will take just 55 minutes to travel from Bhopal to Indore by air.
“On the basis of the response, we are going to expand the service,” MPTB principal secretary and managing director Sheo Shankar Shukla told PTI over the phone. “Right now, we are operating six-seater twin-engine planes. If the response is positive, we will upgrade to 11-seater aircraft and then 20-seater aircraft, and continue expanding the service,” he added.
“These planes are very safe and meet international standards. We are going to provide the best and regular service at competitive prices,” Shukla said.