Chhath helicopter ride in Patna: Rs 2,100 aerial view of Ganga ghats

Bihar's tourism department is running special helicopter joyrides over Patna's Ganga ghats during Chhath Puja 2026, letting visitors see the decorated riverfront from the air for Rs 2,100 a person. According to reports of the department's plan, the Chhath service runs from Tuesday, 10 November to Monday, 16 November, with flights in the morning between 8 am and 10 am, and seats are booked online through the state tourism booking portal, booking.tourism.bihar.gov.in. Regular joyrides over Patna are to resume from Thursday, 19 November.

Chhath Puja is one of Bihar's biggest festivals, when devotees gather at river ghats at sunset and sunrise to offer prayers to the Sun. In Patna, the ghats along the Ganga are decorated and lit, and draw very large crowds. The tourism department is using that moment to sell an aerial view of the riverfront, its lights and the gathering of devotees, from a helicopter.

The service is part of a broader push by the state to build air tourism. Under the heli-tourism scheme approved in June 2026, the tourism and civil aviation departments run subsidised helicopter and air tourism services to selected destinations in Bihar. When the regular Patna joyride was launched, it was offered as a 10-minute flight over the city skyline at Rs 2,100. The Chhath version applies the same product to the festival week.

For visitors, the practical points are the fixed fare, the short morning window and online booking only. Reports did not say how many seats are available each day or whether every flight follows the 8 am to 10 am window, so anyone planning a ride should check the portal for live slot availability. Since the dates and fare rest on news reports rather than a published official notice, travellers should confirm them on the booking page.

There is also a safety and crowd angle. Chhath draws dense crowds to the ghats, and the joyrides are an addition to, not a replacement for, the arrangements that the administration makes on the ground for devotees.

Peepals calculation: At Rs 2,100 for a ride of about 10 minutes, the fare works out to about Rs 210 a minute (2,100 ÷ 10). A family of four would pay Rs 8,400 (4 × 2,100). The Chhath window from 10 to 16 November covers seven days. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Visitors and residents in Patna can see the Chhath ghats from the air during the festival week, if they book a seat online.

Long-term: If festival rides sell well, they could become a regular feature of Bihar's tourism calendar and support the case for more helicopter tourism routes under the 2026 scheme.

Who is affected: Tourists and Patna residents, the helicopter operator and tourism department staff, and devotees at the ghats, whose festival is now also a tourism attraction.

What to watch next: The return of regular Patna joyrides from 19 November 2026.

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