Nagpur: With star campaigners swooping down to canvass for their parties' candidates in the region, the Babasaheb International Airport in Nagpur has handled more than 220 aircraft since mid-October, said officials in Mihan India Limited (MIL), the operator here. This includes both landings and take-offs combined.
Majority of these were helicopters, which are in high demand as compared to fixed-wing airplanes, said sources in the aircraft chartering and ground handling business.
The election rush led to a 50% hike in the charges for chartering a helicopter, taking it to over Rs4 lakh to Rs6 lakh per hour, depending on the type of flying machine. This makes it almost equal to the normal rate for chartering some of the fixed-wing aircraft. Rates for chartering planes have also gone up by 20%.
As rallies are being held in the interiors, political leaders prefer to fly by helicopter as it does not need to land at an airport. The planes are hired directly by the political parties, said sources in the business, adding that the expenses for a star campaigner are not booked under the candidate's name.
BJP has been the biggest client, followed by the Shiv Sena (Shinde). Even Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction has been a major user, said sources in the business. The campaigning started last month, but the demand has only increased in the last two to three days as campaigning intensified, say sources.
Rajesh Sahu of Aurea Aviation said the demand for aircraft during election period saw a sudden hike two days ago, driving up the rates. "Fixed-wing aircraft are preferred only if a leader is coming from a longer distance, like outside the state, to attend a rally. Otherwise, just a helicopter is needed to reach the interiors of the state. The landing ground can be prepared easily," he said.
"It's certainly not like the Lok Sabha elections, yet the demand is up. It has picked up only lately," said a source in another chartering agency. If not 50%, the rentals for choppers have certainly gone up in the range of 30% to 40% of the regular levels, said another professional.
There must be around 50 aircraft engaged in the election campaign in the state at least, said a source. Normally, the parties enter into contracts in advance, but a number of last-minute bookings also happen, which drive up the rates.