Covid-19 had the most unusual fallouts. Affluent individuals who would have otherwise boarded ordinary crowded passenger jets suddenly realised the virtues flying on their own in hired planes.

Yaqoot Air Charter, the city’s first private jet club, opened its plane doors to serve these potential passengers. Now it’s expanding its services and offering Calcutta’s highflyers the opportunity to make short helicopter flights to out-of-the-way locations that don’t have airstrips.

The company, founded by luxury consultant Sabeer Ahluwalia and former director of RPSG (Sanjeev Goenka Group) Aviation Neil Shaw, has now added an Agusta 109 light-weight twin-engine, six-seat multipurpose helicopter to its fleet to become the first and only commercial helicopter services in eastern India. At a fare of around Rs 2.75 lakh for an hour’s flight, company promoters are confident there will be plenty of takers for the helicopter service.

Yaqoot forayed into eastern India’s luxury travel sector in the post-pandemic climate of November 2021 offering a range of chartered aircraft for business people, affluent leisure travellers and those in need of emergency services.

Offering chopper flights was a natural extension to their services. There are plenty of corporate travellers who have to make quick trips to destinationslike Ranchi, Dhanbad, Durgapur and Siliguri. Besides, there are a rising number of affluent tourists who prefer not to make long journeys by road or even train.

“Our experience in private aviation in the past year and half in this part of the country has been nothing short of overwhelming,” Ahluwalia says, “The market is maturing fast and you won’t believe the number of people who want to fly private and avoid the hassles of commercial air travel. The pandemic has perhaps taught them that it’s one life and they need to live it to the fullest.”

He adds: “Be it business, pleasure or emergencies, private flying from Calcutta and its neighbourhood is catching up faster than you can imagine. And we are merely providing an option in the market which is ready to take it.”

Sabeer Ahluwalia (right) and Neil Shaw, founders of Yaqoot Air Telegraph picture

The Agusta 109 light-weight twin-engine, six-seat multipurpose helicopter has a range of about 200 nautical miles (that’s about 370km) and can reach large chunks of eastern India. Of course, the helicopter’s range can vary due to anything from wind, payload, weather conditions and a range of other factors.

Since the helicopter will be based in Calcutta potential passengers will also save money because the hired planes usually come from Delhi or Mumbai and that adds to the cost. “By eliminating the need for aircraft to come from Delhi or Mumbai, the extra burden on the existing pricing is minimised. This cost-saving feature makes air travel more accessible and appealing to businesses and individuals,” says Shaw.

The company is confident that many people will want to fly to North Bengal’s tourist destinations. Also, the copter may be used for elderly or wheelchair-bound family.

Are helicopters a safe mode of transport? There have been recent accidents like the death of Army chief Bipin Rawat and Mamata Banerjee’s forced landing.

Yaqoot’s promoters insist safety has been top-of-mind and that’s why they finally picked a twin-engined helicopter and not a single-engine one. Says Shaw: “If I have the option of choosing between a well maintained single-engine helicopter and an equally well-maintained double-engine helicopter, I will certainly choose the latter.”

Nevertheless, he insists that well-maintained single-engine helicopters are perfectly safe and have been flying on the Bagdogra-Gangtok route for quite some time. Single-engine copters are lighter and therefore often used in situations where they have to climb to greater heights.