Friday, June 26, 2015

State to go ahead with seaplane service

Thiruvananthapuram: The government is gearing up to launch seaplane operations in the State. The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to go ahead with the project which had gone into hibernation since the inaugural flight in June 2013.

Briefing the media after a Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the government had initiated discussions with several companies to operate the service. He said efforts were on to clear the apprehensions of the fishermen opposing the project and come to a consensus on launching the ambitious project. He added that the proposed service would skirt water bodies where fishermen had raised objections citing disruption of inland fishing activities.

An initiative of the Tourism Department in association with private aviation companies, the seaplane service was designed to link major tourist locations in the State and provides the last-mile linkage to backwater destinations from airports in Kerala. The proposal involved the construction of waterdromes with floating jetties in the backwaters.
26/06/15 The Hindu
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline