In a first in India, Haryana launches Air Taxi services; Check out the routes
Chandigarh, Jan 14: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated air taxi services from Chandigarh to Hisar from Chandigarh Airport under UDAN scheme of the central government.
"For the first time in the country, a small aircraft in the form of an air taxi is being used for services," Khattar said.
The launch of the flight operations under UDAN RCS is in sync with the government's objective to provide air connectivity with metros to the Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities of the country.
The
second
phase
services
for
Hisar
to
Dehradun
will
be
started
on
January
18.
On
January
23,
in
the
third
phase,
two
more
routes
from
Chandigarh
to
Dehradun
and
Hisar
to
Dharamshala
will
be
added.
What is an air taxi service?
An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft which makes short flights on demand. In 2001, air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) and the rise of light-jet aircraft manufacturing.
According to the reports, the carrier will use the small twin-engine Tecnam P2006Ts for its operations, which seats three passengers and one pilot. However, the plane comes with a host of benefits.
Its 760kg empty weight makes it one of the lightest twin-engine planes in the world. This design allows the aircraft to fly on Avgas or even standard 92 octane petroleum, instead of the expensive ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel).
With a range of 742 nautical miles, this aircraft can comfortably reach its short-haul, regional destinations.
The
company
Air
Taxi
India
also
plans
to
include
Shimla,
Kullu
and
other
Haryana
routes.
The
service
will
primarily
be
run
by
Air
Taxi
India
which
got
the
Scheduled
Commuter
Airline
Permit
from
aviation
regulator
Directorate
General
of
Civil
Aviation
(DGCA)
in
December.
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The
airline
has
a
total
of
26
routes
in
regional
connectivity
scheme
(RCS)
UDAN.
More
than
300
routes
have
been
operationalised
under
the
UDAN
scheme,
and
the
flag
off
marks
the
inauguration
of
the
303rd
route
under
the
ambit
of
the
scheme.