KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday flagged off the Helicopter service for the state from Dimapur Airport.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Rio said that travelling by chopper was much cheaper and asked Thumby Aviation Pvt. Ltd. for providing good services and also reminded them of the regular distribution of schedules. He also said that there is a need for two choppers to be operational so that one could be kept for regularly catering to the needs and welfare of the people especially the sick and the elderly.
“We also need chopper service during VVIP visits and also for the movement of VIP/official visits in far-flung areas,” CM Rio said.
Chief Minister Nagaland also mentioned that Chopper services should be available especially during the Hornbill festival so that tourists get the opportunity for visiting the famed and beautiful Dzukou Valley.
With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Nagaland for another 4 years, Rio was optimistic that Thumby Aviation Pvt Ltd under the Ministry of Home Affairs would be more equipped for rendering services to the people of the State.
General Manager, Nagaland State Transport, Shikaho P Yepthomi while highlighting the operation of Helicopter services in the state informed that the chopper service was introduced way back in 1988 which however was discontinued due to the unfortunate crash in 1989 February.
Yepthomi further said that helicopter services were re-introduced in Nagaland again in 2007 under the personal initiative of Neiphiu Rio and since then it has been rendering services.
“Due to the heavy demand for the service, the Government has taken the initiative with the MHA and now flying hours have been increased from 480 hours to 600 hours per annum, for the benefit of the people,” he said.
CMD of the Aviation Co Captain KNG Nair said that they will be operating with 2 Bell 412 Helicopters and another chopper A 109 will be kept on standby. “The aircraft has a sitting capacity of 13 passengers plus two pilots while the baggage compartment can carry around 400 pounds of cargo,” Nair said.
The Company has been operating in Nagaland since 2010 on a 2-year term contract basis, initially with one helicopter but since 2010, services are being rendered with two choppers with the increase in demand.
Advisor Transport, GON, Temjenmemba, Airport Director Geetha Sahu, OSD Transport and Aviation, Ababe Ezung, officials from NST Department, and others attended the flagging-off ceremony. (ANI)
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