AS MANY as 60 tickets were sold on day one for chopper rides that will be organised at the Rose Festival to be held from February 17 to 19 at Rose Garden in Sector 16. The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has hired a firm that will offer such rides at Rs 3,500 per person. The duration of the ride will be nearly seven minutes and the choppers will be Eurcopters AS350 B3. Watch What Else is Making News While giving out the tickets, people were told about the dos and don’ts they have to follow before the chopper ride. The passengers should not carry any firearm or sharp object like a knife, scissors or pins, say the guidelines. At the rear side of the ticket, it has been clearly mentioned that the “passenger needs to be medically fit to fly”. There were queries from the Municipal Corporation officials if people with knee problem were fit to travel in it. Colonel Anil Raj, CEO of the Green Hawk Air Private Limited, said, “We received an overwhelming response on the first day. People were really excited and there were many from Solan and Himachal who have bought the tickets. Of 60 people, 10 are children.” The tickets are exempted for kids below two years of age and everybody else would be charged the said amount. The sales began at 1 pm at Punjab Stores in Sector 9 and Hot Millions in Sector 17 on Friday. The CEO said, “While giving out the tickets, our staff is also telling people to avoid taking selfies and not to wear loose clothes like saris or trousers.” Before the chopper ride, the passengers will have to fill out a “passenger manifest” form. Special security checks will be carried out for each passenger. Different time slots have been given to people so that everybody doesn’t come at the same time. Flying will be from 9 am to 5.30 pm. The two helicopters that will fly at a height of 600 to 700 feet will be parked at the airport after the flying ends. They will take off from Sector 17 Parade Ground to Sukhna Lake to Rose Garden and then back to Sector 17. Two ex-Army pilots will fly the Eurocopters. The company will be taking requisite permissions from the DGCA and Air Traffic Control tower and the other authorities concerned. see also page 2
