AAP government mulls leasing fixed wing aircraft for VIP use in Punjab

Vijay C Roy

Chandigarh, October 18

The Punjab Government is contemplating to hire a Dassault Falcon 2000, a fixed-wing aircraft on lease for a period of one year for VIP use. It is worth noting that Punjab’s state-owned fixed-wing aircraft crashed in 2008 and at present, the state hires a fixed-wing aircraft on a need basis which it considers a costly proposition.

Tender floated

Taking a step in this direction, the government had recently floated a tender and invited bids from air charter service providers and non-scheduled operator permit-holders having own fleet or leased fleet.

Primarily, the state also uses its own five-seater, twin-engine Bell 429 helicopter for VIPs which was purchased in 2012 at an estimated cost of around Rs 38 crore.

According to insiders, hiring a fixed-wing aircraft on a need basis costs anywhere between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per hour excluding taxes (such as 18 per GST) to the state exchequer. Since the air charter service provider’s aircraft are based at Delhi or Mumbai, so the state also has to pay an additional cost to arrange the aircraft.

“Hiring a fixed-wing aircraft on a need basis is a costly affair and moreover it’s a time consuming as aircraft are stationed at the Delhi airport or other locations at times and fly to Chandigarh only when we need it. So, we are planning to find an economical solution for the state by hiring an aircraft on a lease basis for one year,” said Rahul Bhandari, Principal Secretary, Civil Aviation, Punjab.

A fixed-wing plane, when compared to a helicopter, is considered both faster and safer. According to officials, the aircraft would be able to seat up to a minimum of eight to 10 passengers and would be required to be positioned and operate from the Chandigarh international airport. The company and the aircraft should meet all requirements as laid down for VIP flying and other instructions issued by the DGCA.

Leaving nothing to chance, the state government had asked the interested service provider to apply with documents demonstrating financial soundness. In 2013, the government had postponed its plans to buy an aircraft.