Bizzybees set to helihop now

Bizzybees set to helihop now
The Times of India

Bangalore: Travelling by road to the international airport may soon be a thing of the past, if you are wellheeled. You could fly instead, if you are staying in one of the super-luxury hotels.

Bangalore’s hotels, fearing the enormous travel time to hit the proposed international airport in Devanahalli, are looking to provide helipads for their customers.

The Leela Group, for instance, has decided to build a helipad right on top of Leela Palace, Bangalore, its most prestigious hotel. A la Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai.

The Rs 250 crore helipad, which will be part of the new arm of the hotel, is believed to be the first such project of that nature in the Indian hospitality sector.

Oakwood Service Apartments, in the UB City complex, is thinking on these lines too, and a helipad is to become a reality there as well. Groups like the Confident Group, which has varied business interests, is looking to start chartered flights from their resorts to the airport to take advantage of this new line of business.
Leela Group chairman Capt. Krishnan Nair told The Times of India on Wednesday that the helipad would be so designed that 20-seater planes could land on it. “With the kind of traffic in Bangalore, I guess one has to think of such innovative methods,” he says. The company’s plan is to have a flight to the hotel every 25 minutes. “We may either buy or lease out the aircraft required,” says Nair. The location of the proposed Devanahalli airport is such that it will take anyone one hour to reach it from the central business district. Such heli-commuting could cut down the travel time down to about 10 min. Says Sunil Krishnan, CEO of the Confident Group, “Globally this is a very popular concept. Highend corporate clients often fly these chartered planes not just to airports but intercity as well, to keep pace with their schedule. In future it is possible that corporate offices also will start to have roof-top helipads.”

A rudimentary 2,000 feet airstrip is enough for these chartered flights to take off, and even resorts can accommodate these.

Govt’s no-fly plan
Bangalore: A proposal to put up a helipad for VVIP movement near Vidhana Soudha-Raj Bhavan area has been put on the backburner after objections were raised by the urban arts commission.

Sources told TOI: “The PWD was asked to reconsider the proposal as the Vidhana Soudha-Raj Bhavan area is a restricted one. The urban arts commission raised objections to a helipad there.’’ Sources said the CM presently takes the helicopter from Jakkur. “Travel time is barely 15 minutes. So there is no need for a helipad,’’ they felt.