Delhi,Mumbai to have separate airspace for choppers

The Director General of Civil Aviation on Saturday announced that Delhi and Mumbai would soon have dedicated air corridors for helicopter operations.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday announced that Delhi and Mumbai would soon have dedicated air corridors for helicopter operations.

On the sidelines of a seminar on prospects and challenges of commercial use of helicopters,Director General Civil Aviation S N A Zaidi said,We notified separate air corridors in Mumbai and Delhi airports last week. They will soon get operationalised through the Airports Authority of Indias air traffic management set-up. He said these corridors,where no fixed-wing aircraft would be allowed to fly,will ensure safety and enhance capacity and efficiency of helicopter operations.

Delhi and Mumbai have the highest density of chopper operations. The civil helicopter industry has long been demanding segregation of helicopter and aircraft traffic to deal with congestion.

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Addressing the seminar,Zaidi said the DGCA would soon come out with draft regulations to bring aircraft and choppers of state governments,their maintenance,operations and other issues under the ambit of a single regulatory framework.

R K Tyagi,chief of the state-owned chopper firm Pawan Hans Zaidi,made several recommendations to enhance the role of the versatile flying machine in India,saying it could be used for emergency services.

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