Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: The AAP-led Punjab government is set to hire an aircraft on a one-year lease for the VIP movement. The chosen one is a Dassault Falcon 2000, a wide-body transcontinental twin-engine aircraft which can carry around 10 passengers.
Before coming to power, AAP had ridiculed the previous Congress and SAD government for spending “so much on flying,” saying those leaders had not given up their “royal habits.” The state government has been hiring chartered flights for CM Bhagwant Mann’s frequent trips to poll-bound Gujarat. The CM is also using state-owned helicopter to visit Himachal Pradesh along with Arvind Kejriwal for campaigning in the Assembly polls.
The state government recently issued a short-term notice for empanelment for air charter service providers. In 2008, a state-owned fixed-wing aircraft crashed and since then the state has not had its own aircraft. Hiring a plane costs at least Rs 1.5 lakh per hour, excluding taxes. A few months back, the Punjab government hired planes twice for the CM to visit Gujarat which cost the government around Rs 99 lakh.
A fixed-wing aircraft is considered faster and safer than a helicopter. In 2013, the government contemplated buying an aircraft but dropped the idea. The government has a five-seat twin-engine Bell 429 helicopter that is used for VIP flying.
The chopper cost Rs 38 crore in 2012 and is mostly used by the CM. The government decision has drawn the Opposition flak. The SAD has asked Mann why he is spending crores from the state exchequer to fund Kejriwal’s air travel and why the government has decided to have an aircraft when it has a chopper.
CHANDIGARH: The AAP-led Punjab government is set to hire an aircraft on a one-year lease for the VIP movement. The chosen one is a Dassault Falcon 2000, a wide-body transcontinental twin-engine aircraft which can carry around 10 passengers.
Before coming to power, AAP had ridiculed the previous Congress and SAD government for spending “so much on flying,” saying those leaders had not given up their “royal habits.” The state government has been hiring chartered flights for CM Bhagwant Mann’s frequent trips to poll-bound Gujarat. The CM is also using state-owned helicopter to visit Himachal Pradesh along with Arvind Kejriwal for campaigning in the Assembly polls.
The state government recently issued a short-term notice for empanelment for air charter service providers. In 2008, a state-owned fixed-wing aircraft crashed and since then the state has not had its own aircraft. Hiring a plane costs at least Rs 1.5 lakh per hour, excluding taxes. A few months back, the Punjab government hired planes twice for the CM to visit Gujarat which cost the government around Rs 99 lakh.
A fixed-wing aircraft is considered faster and safer than a helicopter. In 2013, the government contemplated buying an aircraft but dropped the idea. The government has a five-seat twin-engine Bell 429 helicopter that is used for VIP flying.
The chopper cost Rs 38 crore in 2012 and is mostly used by the CM. The government decision has drawn the Opposition flak. The SAD has asked Mann why he is spending crores from the state exchequer to fund Kejriwal’s air travel and why the government has decided to have an aircraft when it has a chopper.
