Chardham Yatra: Helicopter Service Tickets Sold Out Within an Hour of Portal Opening; Second Phase of Bookings to Begin Later..

Chardham Yatra 2026 Helicopter Service: Preparations for Uttarakhand's Char Dham Yatra are nearly complete. The Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand is set to commence on April 19. The portals of the Gangotri and Yamunotri Dhams will be the first to open on April 19, followed by the opening of the Kedarnath Dham portals on April 22, and finally, the portals of Badrinath Dham on April 23. Online registration for the Char Dham Yatra opened on March 7, and to date, 1,728,148 pilgrims have successfully registered. Meanwhile, bookings for the Kedarnath helicopter service also opened on April 15, with 31,607 tickets already fully booked; these helicopter tickets have been reserved for the first phase of the pilgrimage.

**All Tickets Booked Within One Hour**

There is immense enthusiasm among devotees to visit Kedarnath Dham. Whether traveling by road, on foot, or by air, the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine continues to rise significantly year after year. Devotees had been eagerly awaiting the opening of bookings for the Kedarnath Dham helicopter service for a long time. The extent of this enthusiasm is evident from the fact that as soon as the IRCTC portal opened for helicopter ticket bookings at 6:00 PM on the evening of April 15, all available tickets were fully booked within just one hour.

**Overwhelming Enthusiasm for Kedarnath Dham Helicopter Service**

An overwhelming response has been observed among devotees regarding the booking of helicopter tickets for Kedarnath Dham. To date, a total of 31,607 helicopter tickets have already been booked. In the first phase, devotees were allowed to book helicopter tickets for travel dates ranging from April 22 to June 15. As soon as the IRCTC portal opened for bookings at 6:00 PM, all available slots up until June 15 were filled within a mere hour. The rapid pace at which these tickets were booked clearly demonstrates the immense enthusiasm among devotees to undertake the pilgrimage to Kedarnath Dham. However, there is good news for those pilgrims who were unable to secure tickets during this first phase. The second phase of heli ticket booking will begin in the first week of June, and information will be officially released soon.

Heli services to Kedarnath Dham operate from Guptkashi, Sirsi, and Phata. This time, shuttle services will be operated from Guptkashi by Trans Bharat, Chipson Aviation, from Phata by United Heli Chartered, Rajas Airport, and Pilgrimage Aviation, and from Sirsi by Aero Aircraft and Himalayan Heli.

Strong Security Arrangements

Strong security arrangements have been made for the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand. Approximately 7,000 Uttarakhand Police personnel have been deployed. The central government is also deploying 15 companies of paramilitary forces to ensure the safety of the Char Dham Yatra.

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