Ayodhya, May 15 -- The helicopter tour of Ayodhya, providing an aerial view of the temple town and the Ram temple, has been called off again, due to a lack of customers.The helicopter service, launched on February 19, only operated for a week. The reasons behind the service failing were high fares and only eight minutes of flying time, including one minute for take-off and one minute for landing, people in the know of things said. Om Prakash Singh, a tourism expert of Ayodhya said, "The per round fare is Rs 4,130. If a family of four wishes to ride then they have to pay Rs 16,520, which is almost half the monthly earning of a common man," said Singh, adding "the helicopter company must decrease its fare below Rs 2,000 and and extend the flight time to 15 minutes only then can they attract tourists." Regional tourism officer RP Yadav declined to comment on the matter, stating that the decrease in pilgrims might have affected the service, but he did not have further information. In the eight-minute aerial tour, six people were accommodated at a time, including the pilot. The ride began with the helicopter taking off from the helipad along the banks of River Saryu. Bookings were only available online, but currently, the helicopter remains on the helipad as there are no pilgrims. Mahant Ramdas of Kartaliya Ashram stated that starting tourism services without proper groundwork is not appropriate. A geographical study of Ayodhya was needed, along with understanding the local environment. Besides, the fare for the eight-minute aerial tour was too high. Ordinary pilgrims cannot afford such a fare, leading to the service failing, he said. In March, 2023, a helicopter service was launched in Ayodhya, which had to be shut down within a few days. This service also offered an eight-minute aerial view of Ayodhya to pilgrims, with each pilgrim required to pay Rs 3,000. Initially started as a 15-day trial, the company withdrew after just 11 days. The cruise service in the temple town has also failed to attract tourists. Tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh had inaugurated the Jatayu cruise service on September 8, 2023. However, the service was discontinued in less than two months. The effort was to offer cruise-like experiences, but it failed to attract tourists. Additionally, the water level of the Sarayu River remains very low from November to April, making cruise operations impossible....