Mamata Banerjee and her chopper services

In the course of her rule as chief minister in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has inaugurated a number of helicopter services. An airport has already been set up in Andal and one can take a flight from Kolkata to Andal and from Kolkata to Bolpur.But, people did not go in for it because the helipad was made far away from the main town and one had to hire a car to reach the helipad. Similarly for passengers who arrive from Kolkata. They also faced problems of transport availability. As a result the trips were stopped.
Similarly, the helicopter service from Haldia to Calcutta was discontinued because of lack of passengers to make it a viable operation.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 4 December 2015.

A finance department official in Kolkata explained how the math is skewed against the state government in the case of such chopper services where passenger availability is unpredictable. In his opinion, the Sagar Island-Kolkata chopper service is the only route, among several in the state, that is getting passengers.
The capacity of each chopper is up to seven people and one-way fare for a Kolkata-Sagar Island flight is Rs 1,500 for each passenger. The entire flying time, including return, is close to an hour. With a full load, the total earning for a return trip of seven persons would be Rs 21,000 while the total expenditure would be close to Rs 1.5 lakh.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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