Kerala Seaplane was a commercial seaplane service promoted by Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. It was launched on 2 June 2013 at Kollam with the inaugural flight being operated by Kairali Aviation. However, commercial operations could not start due to opposition from the local fishing community. The Kerala Government was keen on restarting regular operations of the project in 2014. The service was to be the first such service in mainland India, and the second in India after Jal Hans, which operates seaplanes in the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

. Work on the Kerala seaplane project began at the end of July, 2012 and has been praised for being one of the fastest projects to be completed in Kerala.

Structure & working

The role of the

Kerala Government Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

was only that of a facilitator and regulator. Kerala Tourism was to do the work of marketing and promotion. Facilities like water dromes and floating jetties have already been built by the

at Ashtamudi,

Kumarakom Kumarakom is a popular tourism destination located near the city of Kottayam (), in Kerala, India, famous for its backwater tourism. It is set in the backdrop of the Vembanad Lake, the largest lake in the state of Kerala. History Kuma ...

Vembanad Vembanad is the longest lake in India, as well as the largest lake in the state of Kerala. The lake has an area of 230 square kilometers and a maximum length of 96.5 km. Spanning several districts in the state of Kerala, it is known as Ve ...

and

Bekal Bekal is a small town in the Kasaragod district on the West coast of the state of Kerala, India. Location Bekal is a town located south of Kasaragod town and north of Kanhangad on the State Highway 57. Bekal Fort is the largest fort in Ker ...

. These are the four initial tourist spots being connected by the seaplane. These facilities will also be constructed at 21 other tourist spots (including Paravur) later. Houseboats have been deployed at the take-off and landing places for seaplanes and are equipped with special lounges for tourists. The fares for the seaplane services were fixed by the operators and the seaplane services were to be operated by five operators — Bharat Aviation, Kairali Aviation, Mehair,

Pawan Hans Pawan Hans Limited is a central public sector undertaking based at Noida in Delhi NCR, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It has cumulatively flown more than 1 million hours and has had ...

and Wings Aviation — from 10am to 5pm. The rate for the flight had been announced as 6000 per hour, subject to change. Refuelling and maintenance of the seaplanes were to be done at their respective base-station airports and not at the waterdromes to prevent any harm to marine ecology.

Inauguration

The service was launched on 2 June 2013 by

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Fol ...

Oommen Chandy Oommen Chandy, , (born 31 October 1943) is an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislati ...

in the backwaters of the

Ashtamudi Lake Ashtamudi Lake (''Ashtamudi Kayal''), in the Kollam District of the Indian state of Kerala, is the most visited backwater and lake in the state. It possesses a unique wetland ecosystem and a large palm-shaped (also described as octopus-shaped) ...

Kollam district Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 List of districts in Kerala, districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major Lac ...

using a 5+1 seater Cessna 206H amphibian aircraft. The inaugural flight took off on time, but landed back at Ashtamudi after flying for a short distance due to bad weather. It was to be officially launched for tourists in August 2013. Kerala's Minister for Tourism, A.P. Anil Kumar, had announced that four more companies would launch services from the

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

and

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

airports to backwaters in Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and

Kasargode Kasaragod () is a municipal town and administrative headquarters of Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kerala and ...

districts by the end of 2013.

Reactions

The inaugural launch received a mixed response with protests by two Left backed organisations of traditional fishermen who claimed that the seaplane service was a threat to their livelihood and marine ecology. Owing to protests, the seaplane was forced to change its landing location. But, Mr. Anil Kumar said, "The fishing community in Kollam has given its approval to the tourism project. Now, we will speak to the community at Alappuzha to convince them that it will not threaten their profession." The government, however, constituted a committee to study the impact of the seaplane operations on the livelihood of the local fishing community The aircraft remained grounded at the Cochin international airport at Nedumbaserry since 3 June. The expert committee was unable to submit its final report even towards the end of the year. Kairali Aviation, unable to cope with the mounting losses and the uncertainty of restarting the service, returned the aircraft back to its lessor.

Domestic Destinations

Kochi International Airport Cochin International Airport is an International airport serving the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. Located at Nedumbassery, about northeast of the city centre, Cochin International Airport is first of its kind which is develo ...

** Calicut International Airport **

Trivandrum International Airport Thiruvananthapuram International Airport , is an international airport which serves Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. Established in 1932, it is the first airport in the state of Kerala and fifth international airport of In ...

** Kollam **

** Astamudi ** Ernakulam **

** Alappuzha *

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Mangalore International Airport Mangalore International Airport , is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. It is one of the only two international airports in Karnataka, the other being Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. Mangalo ...

References

External links