Chennai: Houseboats and catamarans not your style? Come April, tourists headed to Kerala can hop on to swanky sea-planes to visit little-known destinations along the idyllic backwaters. Six private companies have signed up to provide air connectivity using seaplanes from the three international airports at Cochin, Trivandrum and Calicut, to 20 different pockets of the State. Each plane will have a capacity of around 10 passengers, and can land in water and on land.
Discussing the `172 crore seaplane project at a cultural event held in Chennai to woo travel agents, a representative of Kerala’s tourism department said, “We have finished constructing ‘water domes’ or floating jetties at six different locations. The tourism department is only providing the infrastructure for the service; the civil aviation authorities are taking care of the logistics.”
The seaplanes will ferry passengers to destinations like Astamundi, Punnamada, Bolgatty, Bekal, Kumarakom and Munnar.
16/03/13 New Indian Express
