The flight from Delhi that goes nowhere
NEW DELHI – A decommissioned plane parked on a plot of land near New Delhi’s domestic airport is allowing Indians to have an experience of flying – even though they stay firmly on the ground.
Retired aircraft engineer Bahadur Chand Gupta bought the old plane from an insurance company in 2003, rebuilt it and it now sits in a Delhi suburb where people pay 150 rupees per “trip” so they can experience what it must be like to fly.
“Most people in India have not seen an aircraft,” the plane’s owner Bahadur Chand Gupta, a retired aircraft engineer, said.
“I have been flooded with requests. I was the first aircraft engineer in my village. Back in 1980, I was treated as if I were the prime minister by the village folks who all wanted to see a plane.”
His company, Aeroplanet, now provides an on-the-ground in-flight experience to those who cannot afford to fly.
His office staff double up as cabin crew, serving snacks and helping customers put on their oxygen masks, while the former engineer tells his audience about air pressure and aircraft speed.
There are six crew members on the plane, which is missing a wing and a chunk of the tail. Mr Gupta plays the role of captain, while his wife serves drinks and trays of airline food to the passengers alongside the other stewardesses.
Mr Gupta’s wife, Dr Nirmal Jindal, teaches political science at university in her “other job”. She says the experience is also about showing people how flying is done.
“We want to orient them about aviation manners,” she told Time magazine. “People have money but they do not know how to behave. We want to acquaint them with the cost of a plane, the safety aspects, how to treat the hostesses.”
Industry experts say nearly 100 million Indians are likely to travel by plane this year – compared with fewer than 50 million in 2003-04 – but still only a small percentage of the country’s population of 1.1 billion.
Ian Jarrett
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