Mumbai-Lonavala air service takes off

The ticket is priced at Rs 2,999 per person for one-way trip

Mumbai-Lonavala air service began on Monday. London resident Raj Tanwar, along with his in laws and other relatives, paid Rs 2,999 per head for a 30-minute ride in a nine-seater Cessna 208 amphibian plane to Pawana Dam near Lonavala. The non-scheduled service is being operated by Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (Mehair).

Planes: Two planes — nine-seater Cessna 208 and four-seater Cessna 206. The company plans to offer four-seater plane on charter for Rs 65,000 an hour. The Cessna planes can be flown for passenger service only if there is a visibility of 5 km or more at origin and destination, as per the current Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations.

Cost: Ticket price is Rs 2,999 per person for one way trip. This is a promotional offer and will be revised after September 15. The company says flights till September 15 are almost full and seats available on week-day service. Tickets can be booked on company website.

Mehair Co-founder and Director Siddharth Verma said he is willing to operate even with one passenger. "Schedule integrity is important for us," he said.

Plans: Mehair plans to induct three more amphibian planes by year end and start service to Mula Dam, Dhom Dam and Gangapur Dam (all in Maharashtra), and start joyrides in Goa. Offer non-scheduled intra-Gujarat flights from later this year with support of the local government and start ground training school and a maintenance, repair and operations(MRO).