Pawan Hans flagged off its helicopter service from Thuampui (near Aizawl), flying to nine destinations within Mizoram, on the eve of Independence Day, with the cost of a ride in the six-seater, twin-engine Dauphins being fixed at Rs 50 per minute. Pawan Hans also recently resumed chopper flights in Meghalaya, in the Guwahati&ndashShillong&ndashTura sector. Operations had been suspended last year following a crash that resulted in the death of the state&rsquos erstwhile chief minister the renewal began, fittingly, with a trip for his current successor.

At the other end of the nation, in Gujarat, Captain G.R. Gopinath&rsquos Deccan Shuttles just launched its non-scheduled chartered flights out of Ahmedabad to Surat, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Kandla. Fares for the nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan are Rs 4,000-5,000 each for a 45- to 60-minute flight.