Govt makes fresh bid to hire mid-size jet

After courting a controversy over hiring of a mid-size jet plane last year, the Rajasthan government has made another attempt to rent an aircraft for a year.

Last year, the state government had issued a tender in November to hire an executive mid-size jet place for long-term use, but it was later cancelled after no operator took part in the tender process.

In the recent notice issued on February 27, the directorate has invited bids from the interested parties “for acquisition of a multi-engine, mid-size turbine jet aircraft on long term contract basis for a minimum of 12 months, which may be extended further on mutual consent”.

The bid requires that the aircraft should be fitted with all essential avionics as prescribed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). “The aircraft will be used for carriage of state’s high dignitaries, VIPs, maintenance of law and order, promotion of tourism and other various administrative requirement of the state,” the notice states.

It further states that the aircraft offered should not be more than 15 years old as on the date of issue of NIT, should have carrying capacity of 9-10 passengers, excluding crew, and should have adequate head, leg, baggage space, standing cabin and flat floor with no drop down aisle. The plane should have average cruising speed of 963kmph987kmph. Interested firms could submit proposal by March 30.

“Purchase of the mid-size jet aircraft is a requirement as now turbo-propeller planes have gone obsolete. Across the globe there is a shift towards jet planes,” a senior aviation department official said. HTC