Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Tourism Minister P A Muhammad Riyas on Friday announced that the Centre has approved 48 routes for seaplane operations in the state.

In a Facebook post, Riyas said that preparations are underway to develop the necessary infrastructure for launching the seaplane project. The routes have been allotted to IndiaOne Air, Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd (MEHAIR), Pawan Hans Limited (PHL), and SpiceJet.

He noted that the state government had earlier promised sustained efforts to make the seaplane project a reality. “As part of this, a seaplane test flight was conducted from Kochi to Mattupetty in Idukki district,” the minister said.

Riyas added that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has already earmarked funds in the state budget for the initiative. “We will move forward together to make the seaplane project through dams a reality in Kerala,” he said.

The service, part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN, aims to improve connectivity between Kerala’s four international airports and its backwaters while offering affordable fares.

Small aircraft with seating capacities ranging from 9 to 30 will operate from floating terminals known as waterdromes. The project is expected to substantially cut travel time between airports and remote regions.

The government had earlier identified several potential locations for waterdromes, including Bolgatty, Mattupetty, Kovalam, Ashtamudi, Punnamada, Kumarakom, Vembanad, Malampuzha, and Bekal.

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