Hyderabad, March 4 (IANS) Dedicated chopper corridors at the Delhi and Mumbai airports will come up soon to ease aerial congestion at both the places.

These corridors, where fixed wing aircraft would not be allowed to fly, would also ensure safety and help enhance capacity and efficiency of chopper operations.

The aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is expected to come out with regulations in this regard within a week, a top official said here Thursday.

'We will issue a notification for a dedicated chopper corridor at Delhi and Mumbai airports within a week. Once the notification is issued, operations at the dedicated corridor for choppers will be operational,' N.S.A Zaidi, the DGCA chief, told reporters on the sidelines of an international aviation conference here.

'We have a new heliport coming up at Rohini. This would help us resolve the congestion problem,' he added.

Delhi and Mumbai have the highest density of chopper operations. The civil chopper industry has for long been demanding separation of helicopter and aircraft traffic to lessen aerial congestion.

Zaidi also informed that the DGCA would soon hire at least 550 technical staff as part of its expansion programme. 'It should be complete within two years,' he said.