India’s first heliport, built by state-owned Pawan Hans in the northern part of the capital, is set to become functional next week, a year after undergoing trial runs. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju will inaugurate the new facility on February 28, which has come up at an investment of INR 100 crore.
The heliport, set up at Rohini area of North Delhi, consists of a terminal building having capacity of 150 passengers, four hangars with parking capacity of 16 helicopters and nine parking bays. Besides, it has a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility also for the upkeep of Pawan Hans fleet as well as for third-party maintenance work.
“Rohini facility is India’s first integrated facility for rotor wing aircraft including their landing and takeoff. It has a terminal building that can cater to 150 passengers per day besides separate air traffic control (ATC), fire and fuelling services,” said B P Sharma, chairman and managing director, Pawan Hans.
Pawan Hans had successfully carried out trial sorties from the heliport in February last year and had planned to go for full scale chopper operations from May.
The commencement of services from here is also expected to reduce congestion at the Delhi Airport, which currently handles about 40-50 helicopter arrivals and departures on an average per day besides the large-scale fixed-wing operations.
Pawan Hans has carried out the Rohini heliport project for the Civil Aviation Ministry. The heliport will also be used for operating services for disaster management, emergency medical services, law and order surveillance as well as a centre for the skill development of pilots and engineers. Rohini heliport will also promote regional air connectivity through helicopters in the northern region.
“We anticipate the traffic from this heliport to jump manifold once the government’s regional connectivity scheme goes full throttle,” added Sharma.
(PTI)
