Heli Taxi Service between Shimla and Chandigarh: In a bid to promote Heli Tourism, a Heli Taxi service is being introduced by Pawan Hans Ltd in collaboration with the state government of Himachal Pradesh. The Heli Taxi service will help passengers travelling between Shimla and Chandigarh to complete their journey in minutes instead of hours! On June 4, 2018, the first service of Shimla-Chandigarh-Shimla Pawan Hans Heli Taxi will be flagged off by Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur from Shimla airport. Not only the Pawan Hans Heli Taxi service will reduce the travel time between these two capital cities, the service will also boost Heli Tourism across the state. Additionally, the Heli Taxi service will connect three states namely, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
To ferry passengers as well as to promote Heli tourism, the Pawan Hans Heli Taxi service will make use of a 20-seater chopper and the minimum amount of fare each passenger will have to pay for the service is Rs 2,999. The morning flight will take just 20 minutes to complete its journey between the two state capitals. For passengers travelling from Shimla to Chandigarh, at 8:00 am, the chopper will leave from Shimla airport and at 8:20 am the chopper will reach Chandigarh. On the other hand, for passengers travelling from Chandigarh to Shimla, at 9:00 am, the chopper will leave from Chandigarh airport and at 9:20 am the chopper will reach Shimla.
Initially, the Pawan Hans Heli Taxi service will be available every Monday as well as Friday. However, depending on the response the Heli Taxi service gets from the passengers, the frequency of the service will be increased.
At present, air connectivity is not available between Shimla and Chandigarh. Though services were started between the two state capitals they were discontinued later. Also, travelling between these two cities via road takes more than 3 hours to complete the journey.
