Political weather not conducive for seaplane
Thiruvananthapuram: While the monsoon has almost come to an end clearing the climate for the launch of the commercial services of the much-hyped seaplane service, the political weather is still not conducive for the project.
A meeting convened by tourism minister A.P. Anilkumar here on July 23 had decided to form an expert committee to study the concerns of fishermen and submit a report within one month. However, it took almost one month for the government to formally constitute the committee.
In the wake of the delay in getting the green signal for the project, the maiden seaplane operator, Kairali Aviation, was even planning to seek compensation from the government as the firm was incurring huge expenses on maintaining the aircraft, including the salary for the pilot.
Tourism department sources said that the commercial operations of seaplanes could begin before the next tourism season so that it would benefit the tourists as well as the operators. The expert committee is headed by Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies V-C Dr Madhusoodhana Kurup.
Post new comment