TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Goa Tourism successfully conducted the maiden trial of the much-awaited amphibian aircraft, even though the launch was delayed by nearly two hours on Saturday. The nine-seater Cessna seaplane took off from Dabolim airport post Noon to River Mandovi and later flew to Miramar, Chapora River and Coco beach to fly back to the airport.
With the induction of the new service into a fleet of other tourism adventures, Goa becomes the second State in the country after Maharashtra to introduce the aircraft. However, its commercial operations would begin from the coming tourist season in September.
Goa Tourism had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maritime Energy Heli AIR Services Pvt Ltd (MEHAIR) to launch this service in Goa.
MEHAIR CEO Siddhart Verma spelt out a string of advantages during a 20-minute long presentation onboard a boat cruise while also highlighting the air connectivity between Goa and its two adjoining states.
Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, who along with GTDC Chairman Nilesh Cabral and toursim officials witnessed the takeoff and landing of the aircraft, expects the sea plane to attract large chunk of high end tourists. “It will give boost to our economy. If tourism sector has to grow we will have to be innovative,” he said.
