5th airport for Kerala in Sabarimala, seaplanes, Kerala Airlines: Union Civil Aviation Minister Naidu’s dream

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu laid down his three major aspirations for Kerala at the Manorama News Conclave on the theme Kerala@70 in Kochi on Saturday.

One (seaplane services) will soon become a reality, the second (an airport for Sabarimala) the minister presented as his "dream" and the third (an airlines company) was thrown as an aspirational challenge to the people of Kerala.

At the Conclave, while delivering his inaugural speech, the young Union Civil Aviation Minister said: "It is my dream to have one airport in Sabarimala. We would want to take that up as the fifth airport for Kerala."

Attempts to develop a greenfield airport for Sabarimala had fallen apart till now. Just when it had seemed a reality, the National Green Tribunal cancelled the environment clearance for the project in May 2014. However, both the LDF and the UDF support an airport for Sabarimala. The proposal was actively renewed. A revenue survey related to the acquisition of land had begun during the fag end of the previous LDF government.

"I have been a strong and ardent devotee of Ayyappa Swamy, and I have come multiple times," the minister said. He said it would be more convenient to have an airport at Sabarimala, particularly for the old who travel to the holy shrine. "Travel is all about convenience," Naidu said.

The Union minister said it was a collective responsibility of both the state and central governments. "Through this platform I put it across to the state government that if they can help us with the land, we can definitely have a good airport at Sabarimala," the minister said during his inaugural speech at the Manorama Conclave.

In fact, the previous LDF government had identified 870 acres of land spread across Manimala and Erumely in Pathanamthitta district, all of it within the disputed Cheruvally Estate, for the Sabarimala airport. In June 2020, the LDF government cleared the land acquisition for the project. In April 2023, the project was approved by the civil aviation ministry. And in February 2024, the state government informed the Kerala Legislative Assembly that the necessary approvals from the Central government and defence had also been obtained.

Nonetheless, early this year, courts have set aside land acquisition notifications and rejected the state's ownership claims over the Cheruvally Estate. The Union Civil Aviation Minister's call through the Manorama Conclave could revive attempts to identify new land for the purpose.

Seaplane to islands
Unlike the Sabarimala airport, seaplane services is about to become a reality in Kerala.

"Very soon, if things align properly, we will have the first seaplane starting again from Kochi to Lakshadweep," the Union minister said. "We are actively pursuing with the Union Territory of Lakshadweep also and it is quite ideal for them to have this kind of seaplane connectivity. They have a problem during the monsoons. Not even the boats are able to connect them to the mainland. So it is a very good opportunity for them," he said. The minister said that all the requisite permissions were being worked out.

"So like I said if everything falls into place, very soon I will have to come to Kochi again to launch the seaplane operations," the minister said.

Kerala already has rudimentary domestic seaplane services. In 2024, the then tourism minister P A Mohamed Riyas flagged off a trial run for a seaplane service at the Bolgatty Palace, very near to where the Manorama Conclave is being held. The objective was to enhance tourist connectivity by linking Kerala's airports with backwater destinations through waterdromes. It was operated under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and was the collaborative effort between a Switzerland-based private company and SpiceJet.

Naidu said that Maldives, very close to Kochi, was operating more than a hundred seaplanes in their ecosystem. "Yes, they have the natural ecosystem of islands that makes it much easier to use seaplanes to travel. But don't we have islands? Don't we have water bodies? Don't we have those locations where seaplanes become the most ideal way of travelling to that location? Yes, we have. But we have to unlock that ecosystem," the minister said.

Kerala Airlines
It is the urgent need for more aircraft that prompted the minister to exhort entrepreneurs in Kerala to begin an airlines company in Kerala. "The 840 aircraft we have in the country now is nowhere close to what the requirement is. That is why we have so many orders (1700 aircraft)," the minister said.

He said that the country should "leverage our order position" and ensure that more manufacturing happened in the country.

It is in this context that he put forward a request to the people of Kerala. "We need more airlines in the country. Is the government happy with the duopoly? Definitely not. We want more competition in the industry. We want more people to operate airlines in the country. We want more investors to come into this business," he said.

The minister said that Kerala was not short of investors. "I see lot of people in Kerala are into gold business. Lot of people with lot of money here," he said, and added: "Please reach out to them and tell them that the Minister of Civil Aviation is telling that we need to have more airlines in the country and I will make it a point to assure that whoever is interested we will give complete support to them and I dream about Kerala being the first state to have its own airlines also."

There is a reason behind this airline entrepreneurship dream for Kerala. "We have given some NOC to some airlines and they are from Kerala. Most of the people who carry a strong background and experience in aviation are all from Kerala," the minister said.

A Kerala Airlines, too, is not a new concept. During Oommen Chandy's time, there was an attempt to create an airline company, Air Kerala, using the CIAL model, basically using public funding. The concept did not find favour with the Centre.

The problem these entrepreneurs face is the lack of planes. "Engine manufacturing is not happening at the pace that we want it to happen after COVID that caused a disruption in the supply chain. Solution: A strong manufacturing ecosystem for planes in the country."