Ever wondered if instead of taking a long road impromptu road trip, you could just fly to the hills whenever you wanted? Well, this dream could soon be a reality! Thanks to the initiative by Haryana government, soon you'll be able to hop on an air taxi, and fly to the hills of Dehradun and Dharamshala from Chandigarh.
Haryana's Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar has inaugurated air taxi services from Chandigarh to Hisar under the UDAN scheme of the Central Government. The aim is to improve to ait connectivity between metros and Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
As per media reports, a tiny four-seater plane flew from Chandigarh to Hisar in January in the first phase. And, in the second phase, there will be two more routes from Chandigarh to Dehradun and from Hisar to Dharamshala.
The service was scheduled to start in first fortnight of January, but due to bad weather conditions, it has been delayed. Later in the third phase, there are plans to include more routes to Kullu, Shimla and more routes from Haryana.
The taxi service will be operated by AirTaxi India which was granted granted the Scheduled Commuter Airline Permit by the Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in December 2020, and will cover 26 routes.
Fare and travel time
The 4-seater plane will fly at the whooping speed of 250 km/hr, thereby reducing the travel time by a considerable margin. The fare will range from ₹1700 to ₹2500 per person.
Hisar to Chandigarh: Travel time 50 min for ₹1700
Hisar to Dharamshala: Travel time 1.5 hours for ₹2500
Hisar to Dehradun: Travel time 2 hours for ₹2500
Even though the fare is slightly higher than the bus, but given that the travel time will be reduced to a great extent, the fares are quite affordable.
The 4.5 hours journey between Hisar and Chandigarh has been reduced to just 45 minutes! ₹1700 doesn't sound too much, right?
How to book tickets?
The bookings will be made online as well as there will the facility of private booking. The media reported that there will be a daily flight between Hisar and Chandigarh, even if only one traveller has made the booking.
Finally, no more excuses to delay a mini-break or weekend getaway to the hills, because of long travelling hours! So, keep your bags ready and keep an eye out for the booking to start!
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