After launching hot air balloon safaris, Maharashtra has added yet another feather to its cap by becoming the first state in India to start seaplane service. Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR) in association with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will launch the service on March 10, 2014 between Juhu Airport in Mumbai and Aamby Valley city, which has the first approved seaplane water drome in mainland India. Sumit Mullick – IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & Chief Protocol Officer, Govt. of Maharashtra, officially inaugurated the first flight at Juhu Airport with dignitaries such as Dr Jagdish Patil – IAS, Managing Director, MTDC; Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director & Director of Tourism, Govt. of Maharashtra; Siddharth Verma, Director & Co-founder, MEHAIR and Praveen Bhardwaj, Head-Aviation & Facilities, Aamby Valley City present at the event.
MEHAIR will offer one-way inaugural fare of Rs 4,500-Rs 5,000 and bookings for the daily charter service will start on its website on launch day. So far Rs 15-20 crore has been invested on the project. The service is expected to add a new dimension to tourism in Maharashtra and help unlock the potential of the state by connecting prominent tourist destinations of the state. The company also plans to operate flights from Juhu to Nariman Point from April 2014 onwards with an inaugural price of Rs 750 for the ten-minute journey. The service will be expanded in phases to connect Mumbai with tourist destinations in the state, which have no runways but are adjacent to suitable water bodies. This will enable connecting Mumbai with almost every part of the interior and coastal areas of the state despite non-availability of airports. It will help bolster the popular trend of long-weekend holidays.
Patil said, “This service will greatly boost tourism in Maharashtra. Seaplanes will turn vacation spots into weekend destinations. With this service the fatigue and expenditure involved in reaching a destination will also come down drastically.”
“Maharashtra has 720 kms of coastline, beautiful beaches and huge reservoirs which are not well connected. The new initiative will help to connect these destinations and radically receive more tourists to the state. The role of MTDC was that of a facilitator and helping MEHAIR to get the necessary licences,” stated Mullick.
Verma said, “India has a coastline of 9,500 kms along with various dams, lakes, rivers, backwaters, etc. Finding a suitable place for landing a seaplane will never be a problem in any part of India. In terms of business potential, since many of these water bodies are already popular tourist destinations, in the absence of any airport in their vicinity, they become good markets for seaplanes. Our vision is to roll out a fleet of 25 seaplanes over the next five years, operating in almost ten states in India. We have entered into MoU with states including Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and signed a letter of intent with Gujarat.”
In the first phase of its operations in Maharashtra, MEHAIR will gradually roll out the service to destinations like Aamby Valley lake, Gangapur Dam (Nashik), Mula Dam (Meherabad/Shirdi), Pawna Dam (Lonavla), Varasgaon Dam (Lavasa) and Dhoom Dam (Panchgani/Mahabaleshwar). In the second phase, MEHAIR will connect Mumbai with destinations on the Konkan coast like Ganpatipule, Harihareshwar, Tarkarli and Murud-Janjira. This will be followed by flights from Mumbai to the Marathwada region and ecologically rich sector like Vidarbha.
MEHAIR pioneered the launch of seaplanes in India three years ago and its maiden service has been operational in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands since January 2011. In Mumbai, the service is being launched with a Cessna 206 Amphibian aircraft that can accommodate four passengers and another Cessna 208 Amphibian aircraft, which will accommodate nine passengers, will be inducted by April 2014. The company plans to operationalise a twin engine 19-seater seaplane in the phase II of the project which will start in October 2014. “The next phase is expected to incur an investment of Rs 20-25 crore,” stated Verma.
Rajiv Duggal, Senior Vice President – Travel Hospitality & Leisure, Lavasa Corporation, said, “It is an excellent initiative and will definitely open our customer base. Besides providing connectivity from Mumbai to Lavasa, we are also looking at connecting Lavasa to Shirdi via the seaplane. We will be floating three-day packages and start with a nine-seater plane and as the demand increases we will look at deploying a bigger aircraft. We are awaiting clearance from the DGCA and hopefully start the service by August this year.”
Commenting on the launch of the service, Sudhir Patil, President, Maharashtra Tour Operators Association, said, “The initiative will help to tap the tourism potential of the state and bring destinations in Maharashtra closer. The joint promotion by MTDC and the support extended is a positive move towards tourism promotion. It is a good beginning and fantastic opportunity and will open various tourism projects in Maharashtra.”
India's first state seaplane service likely to boost tourism in Maharashtra
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