River Engineering Pvt ltd is to set up a Rs350 crore private air charter service named 'Vayumitra', which is expected to promote social sector tourism including air ambulance services, pilgrimage and tourism.
"The operations will start from June end 2015, and will be covering the air taxi services in connecting cities in the tourist circuit like Agra, Mathura, Khajurao, Varanasi and Ayodhya, " said Neeraj Kayastha, Director (Marketing), REPl.
The company is already in the area of manufacturing in the area of aerospace, railways, communications and defense equipments in the country. The company also has indicated plans to take assistance from international reputed brands in order to absorb their methodology in the operation and management of the air charter services in the country.
Already the company has hired Retired Air Vice Marshall Ravi Srivastava as its head of the air taxi operations. The company will be also investing in other related and ancillary areas like parking, maintenance as well as accredited full fledged MRO services. As per promoter of the project Neera Aggarwal, Director of REPl company will be covering the air taxi services include a fleet size of four helicopters and will be expanded to twelve in the later part of its expansion which will connecting cities in the tourist circuit like Agra, Mathura, Khajuraho, Varanasi and Ayodhya.
The company has also expressed its desire to re-invest its earnings in the projects in the social sector, as per Ankur Agarwal -- another promoter of the company. The company also plans to offer special packages and discounted packages to senior citizen and invalids in their air charter services for pilgrimage tourism as well as in the air ambulance services.
Sources said that the project has already been signed with the UP Government regarding the project which aims at reviving tourism air-taxi services. Infact the company plans to expand the project at a later stage in the near future beyond the stated cities of Agra, Mathura, Khajuraho, Varanasi and Mathura and Ayodhya to other important regions of tourist interests, the company said.