Hyderabad: Public miffed with dismal show at Wings India 2018

With just 15 aircrafts on display this year, most of the visitors say they felt cheated by getting so little to see after paying `400

Less crowds seen on the last day of Wings India 2018 aviation show,

HYDERABAD: The public were in for an unpleasant surprise at the bienniel aviation expo -Wings India 2018 after two days of waiting as there were fewer planes on display. Apart from the non-presence of big planes this time around, the organisers had also decided to scrap the acrobatic display of planes, a major crowd puller in all the previous editions of the expo. 

Unlike the previous editions that witnessed presence of 29 aircrafts, only 15 were on display at the exhibition this year. Many expressed their displeasure saying they felt cheated by getting so little to see after paying `400. The only notable attraction was the Gujarat State Civil Aviation Departments flight simulator that gave the user an experience of flying a plane.  

at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad on Saturday; (right) a visitor tries out

a aircraft simulator at a stall put up by Guajrat State Civil Aviation department | R Satish Babu" />

For adults who paid `400 as an entry fee to see an aircraft up close, could only get as far as the fence would allow. As the third day of the exhibition came to a close, two of the six luxury jetliners that were on display left Begumpet Airport and the exhibition. The public was well aware there would be no more air shows in Hyderabad in the foreseeable future but hoped for the spectacle. “I could have watched some planes fly by on Youtube or could have taken a Netflix Subscription,” said Nizam Ahmed, an HAL student, “They did not allow us to get near the aircraft. So what[‘s the point of this exhibition?” he added.

“There was no need to pay `400 for such a dismal display. I could have watched the same thing from the boundary walls for free,” said Sai Ramulu, a sales engineer with a private firm in the city. “The only people who don’t care how many aircraft are there are children. My son was very excited to see the aircraft even from this side of the fence,” he added.

Only those who had bought tickets worth `2,100 were allowed to get past the fence. “It was nice seeing the aircraft up close but `2100 was a hefty price. There is nothing here that warrants such a high fare,” said G Prasad, who was waiting in line for his turn, so that his two children could try out the flight simulator at the Gujarat State Civil Aviation Departments stall at the exhibition. “They make it look so easy in the movies. I tried to fly and couldn’t even manage a good take off,” said a cheery Sumalata Vignesh, an eight standard student. “I wanted to try out more but there are a lot of people waiting in the queue,” she added.