The first seaplane service on mainland India was launched with an aircraft taking off from Juhu Airport and touching down on the waters of the Pawana Dam(Pawana Dam is located in Lonavala in Pune district) on Monday. Besides Pawana Dam, MEHAIR is planning services to Mula, Gangapur and Dhoom dams in Pune district, and a training centre for seaplane pilots to meet the requirements of its fleet.
The service has been launched by the Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR) in collaboration with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).
The maiden flight, with nine passengers on board and a flying time of 25 minutes, cost Rs.2,999 per head one way with the fare likely to be revised next month. This is the first step towards covering India with a seaplane network over the next three-five years" said MEHAIR co-founder and director Siddharth Verma.
"The service will boost tourism immensely, and seaplanes will turn vacation destinations into weekend destinations. Besides, the fatigue involved in reaching these destinations would also decrease drastically," said MTDC managing director Jagdish Patil.
The service to be operated with Cessna 208 (nine-seater) and Cessna 206 (four-seater) amphibian aircraft will slash travel time between the two points, currently serviced by trains, the Mumbai-Pune expressway and the Mumbai-Pune highway.
The company has two aircraft in service and will acquire another Cessna 208 next month, followed by two more similar aircraft by the year-end.
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