Soon, you will be able to reach Matheran in a chopper

After starting heli-tourism in collaboration with Pawan Hans to provide enthusiasts an aerial view of the city and surrounding areas, besides ferrying people to a number of locations, plans are now in the pipeline to extend the service to Matheran and Murud near Alibaug. It will be a weekend service to begin with; it will be made available on other days as per demand.

The project by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) is later expected to be extended to other popular tourist destinations, namely Shirdi, Ganpatipule and Tarkarli.

Interestingly, the seaplane service, which is also an MTDC project, too had started trips to some of these destinations but had to stop due to lack of demand. MEHAIR, which operates the seaplane, now plans to revive the services. "We will see to it that the two projects don't clash," said a senior MTDC official.

The state tourism department said the process for extending the service to Matheran has already started and the work to construct a helipad will begin soon. The service will be priced competitively, said an MTDC official.

Matheran, which is located about 100 kilometres from the city, is a small hill station and a very popular getaway for people living in Mumbai and Pune.

The development follows the launch of heli-tourism earlier this month, with tourists wanting to get a quick tour of the city and its important landmarks from about 500 feet. The 10-minute tour has been priced at Rs3,200, with MTDC officials already declaring it a hit among travellers.