Himachal Pradesh is one of the prominent tourist spots in the country. And now to make it more accessible and comfortable for tourism, the Himachal Pradesh government and national helicopter carrier Pawan Hans have deputed a 20-seater chopper to ferry passengers to promote hill tourism. The service will reduce the 120-kilometre long distance to just 20 minutes of travel. The service will be inaugurated by chief minister Jai Ram Thakur at Shimla on June 4. The schedule will depend on the kind of response the service gets.

Depesh Joshi, the official spokesperson of Chandigarh International Airport Limited, said the heli-taxi service will be available at the start and end of the week. It will be available on every Monday and Friday and seeing the response the authorities may increase the frequency. The chopper will accommodate 20 people at a time and the ticket fares will start at Rs. 2,999 per passenger. It will depart at 8 am from Shimla and arrive Chandigarh by 8.20 am. The same chopper will head back to Shimla at 9 am and reach Shimla by 9.20 am. The service will definitely save time, which usually takes about 3- 3.5 hours.

A similar type of service was initiated about 15 years ago but it did not get any response. The price then was around Rs. 2500. The service had to be called off after a few months. With the fare prices now being fixed at Rs 2,999, let us see if this one proves fruitful. With Shimla, this will be the second city to get connected with Chandigarh after Kullu hill station. Shimla boasts of forests on the hillsides, pleasant cold weather and many beautiful landscapes which make it a frequented tourist spot. The roads around the mountains can get a motion sickness for those who are not used to such travelling, the heli-taxi then comes as the perfect rescue.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2018 05:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).