People of Mumbai and tourists may soon avail intra-city seaplane flights between Juhu and Girgaum Chowpatty as the sea plane operated by MEHAIR in association with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) successfully conduction a trail landing on sea near South Mumbai on Wednesday.
MEHAIR and MTDC have been working on the project for nearly 2 years and have already obtained crucial clearances from several authorities including the nod from the Ministry of Defence, Coast Guard, Indian Navy, and Mumbai Police, Urban development department, BMC, Mumbai Port Trust, Mumbai Police, environment department and the Airports Authority of India.
MEHAIR is already operating daily seaplane flights between Mumbai and Pawna Dam.
On Wednesday the company's Cessna 208A amphibian aircraft took off from Juhu Aerodrome in Mumbai and successfully touched-down in the waters off Girgaum Chowpatty.
The flight took seven minutes as compared to 90 minutes travel time by road.
Speaking on the occasion, Siddharth Verma, co-founder and director, MEHAIR, said, “With the commercial launch of the service, Mumbai will become one of the few cities in the world that have a seaplane service originating in the heart of the business district. We are confident that the public at large will see the value of the service and take full advantage of it.”
The company is yet to announce the likely timing of the commercial launch of the flight. A ticket could cost below Rs 1000.
