Dehradun: The single-day helicopter service ticket to Kedarnath for the Chardham Yatra is completely booked until April 30th. Within a six-hour period, all helicopter tickets from April 25th to 30th were reserved, with 6263 pilgrims securing seats in 2673 bookings. However, slot timings for bookings after April 30th have yet to be determined.
Initially, those who booked online experienced difficulties due to technical glitches in the payment gateway on the IRCTC website. The doors of Kedarnath Dham will open on April 25th as part of the Chardham Yatra, with helicopter services also commencing on this day. For the first time, the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) has assigned IRCTC with the task of booking Kedarnath helicopter tickets.
On Saturday, ITCTC launched the ticket booking portal for heliyatra.irctc.co.in as scheduled. Passengers using the helicopter service to Kedarnath were eagerly waiting for online ticket booking. However, they faced technical issues with the payment gateway after the portal was opened, causing some inconvenience.
According to C. Ravi Shankar, CEO of Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority, there is a great deal of excitement among pilgrims about the Chardham Yatra. On the first day, the tickets for Kedarnath helicopter service were sold out until April 30th. While there were some technical issues with the website initially, they were quickly resolved, and ticket booking proceeded smoothly.
Starting from April 25th, helicopter services will operate for Kedarnath Dham from Guptkashi, Sirsi, and Phata helipads. The service will be operated by nine different helicopter companies.
