VUDA to relaunch heli tourism in Visakhapatnam

To strengthen the tourism sector in the city, the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) has decided to relaunch the heli tourism services.

The services would be commencing from October and are expected to continue till January next year. At first, VUDA was on a move to expand the heli tourism to Araku but has withdrawn the idea later. A new helipad has been constructed in Rushikonda as the earlier helipad in VUDA Park falls in an air-funnel zone.

The pilot project was flagged off by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in December last year. After conducting trail runs on 16th and 17th December, the rides were made available to the public.

Pawan Hans, that has jointly undertaken this project along with VUDA, brought in a two-engine AS365 Daulphin N for the inaugural ride carrying Chandrababu Naidu. This chopper is equipped to carry a load of up to 10 passengers while skimming through the skies. Another chopper, Bell 206L4, has been readied for the sake of carrying tourists.

Due to invariable reasons, the heli tourism came to a halt and now VUDA has decided to re-launch in October.