Around 15,000 visitors turned up for the last day of India Aviation 2012, the aviation exhibition at Begumpet Airport that began on March 14 Though the organisers were keen to emphasise that this was not a mela, there was a carnival-like atmosphere, as thousands of Hyderabadis flocked to the exhibition on Sunday.
The organisers were caught by surprise, since there were just 10,000 tickets on sale, 5000 for each of the two sessions. “But the disappointment writ large on the guests’ faces forced us to revise our decision and we started dishing out more tickets after 1 pm. As such, the turnout was much beyond the 10,000 that was anticipated,” an official said.
Not surprisingly, there were parking problems and security personnel had to struggle to keep visitors away from the bays. Only eight aircraft were on display, but visitors like young Rakesh were happy to be able to see whatever aircraft were there up close. Kabir, though, said he was disappointed at not seeing the Russian Irkut MC 21 aircraft. Ms Uma Rao said more aircraft should have been put on public view, but “nevertheless, my children enjoyed the show.”
Professionally qualified job seekers left their phone numbers in the visitors’ register; one wanted a job as a helicopter pilot, while another sought a job with Air-India. Krishna Kumar came all the way from Visakhapatnam, as his son was keen on a job in aviation. Ms D. Kalpana, from Musheerabad, said she was looking for aviation courses for her son, while Sudesh was amused to learn about air taxis.
The exhibition was worth it for many information seekers like Ramakrishna, an event manager, who found information about helicopter charter services that he could use for his clients. “I often read about someone hiring a helicopter for a wedding or some such. I found information on Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Drop Services from Turbo Helicopters. It also provides flower-dropping and helicopter pick-up for weddings,” he said.