Election Campaign...do You Know How Much Is Paid per Hour for a Helicopter?

Poll fever is catching up across the country. Therefore, the campaign of the leaders is gradually gaining momentum. Against this backdrop, the demand for helicopters will increase. According to Club One Air CEO Ranjan Mehra, at present, there are not enough planes and helicopters as per the demand.

New Delhi: The Election Commission will announce the notification for Lok Sabha polls in a few days. With that, the leaders' campaigns will gain momentum. In this context, industry sources estimate that the demand for private jets and helicopters will increase by 40 per cent compared to earlier. Helicopters are likely to have higher demand compared to fixed-wing aircraft, experts said.

It is explained that the demand for helicopters is high due to the possibility of reaching remote areas easily. However, Club One Air CEO Ranjan Mehra revealed that at present there are not enough planes and helicopters as per the demand. He said that because of the high demand, there is an opportunity for some people to take these on lease.

Chartered aircraft and helicopter services are charged on an hourly basis. Industry sources said the airfare would be between Rs 4.5 and RS 5.25 lakhs per hour. It has been revealed that it is possible to charge up to Rs.1.5 lakhs per hour per helicopter. By December 2023, there are 112 non-scheduled operators in the country.

This means that these companies provide flight services as per the requirement and do not run services on a fixed route. It is estimated that these organisations have around 350 aircraft and up to 175 helicopters. It is reported that most of these have a seating capacity of less than 10.

Experts said that there are also middlemen in this industry. It has been revealed that they book a few hours of services in advance and then sell them to the customers depending on the demand. It is reported that some parties are ready to pay a maximum of Rs 3.5 lakhs per hour for helicopters given the high demand this time.

In the annual audit accounts submitted to the Election Commission for the financial year 2019-20, the ruling BJP has said that up to Rs 250 crore was spent on helicopter/aircraft services. The Congress party has shown a figure of Rs 126 crore under election campaign travel expenses that year.

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