Andhra Pradesh government giving industry status to tourism to give it a fillip, says Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu waving to the crowd at the launch of a seaplane demonstration at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: G. N. RAO

VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched a seaplane demonstration, jointly organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and A.P. Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), at Punnami Ghat on the banks of Krishna River here on Saturday (November 09) by flying in a SpiceJet operated De Havilland amphibious plane, built by DH-Canada, to Srisailam.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the launch of a seaplane demonstration at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on Saturday (November 09).
| Photo Credit:
G. N. RAO

This set the stage for the commencement of commercial seaplane services by SpiceJet in Andhra Pradesh starting with Vijayawada-Hyderabad and Vijayawada-Nagarjuna Sagar routes by March 2025. SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh, who was a special guest, made an announcement to that effect in his brief remarks earlier.

SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh presenting a prototype of a seaplane to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the seaplane demo launched by the latter at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on Saturday (November 09).
| Photo Credit:
G. N. RAO

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said the future belongs to tourism and that seaplanes would give a major fillip to the sector and promised to extend all possible support to making the State a hub for seaplane operations, while stating that the government was according industry status to tourism in the upcoming policy to take it to the next level.

He observed that A.P. has several tourist attractions in the country like Srisailam, Konaseema, and Gandikota in Kadapa district, which was considered the Grand Canyon of India, that have tremendous potential but access to which was not easy. Seaplanes would enable the tourists to reach them in far less time than what was possible with conventional means of travel (road and rail). 

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said he requested Mr. Rammohan Naidu to help operate at least 10 seaplanes in the State, including one or two in Vijayawada, in the coming five years and that he was appreciative of the fact that the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has revised the guidelines for seaplane operations in order to make it a thriving business proposition. 

The tourism policy was so drafted to realise the potential of the multiple places of tourist attraction in the State, he said and stressed the need for good hotels and transport services and the importance of maintaining law and order at such sites, the CM added.

Mr. Rammohan Naidu said seaplane operations were started in the country a few years ago but the COVID-19 pandemic and some other extraneous factors stifled them. Keeping in view their potential, the MoCA has recently made seaplane operations easier by issuing revised guidelines under the Regional Connectivity Scheme — Udan, with due focus on aspects like safety and licensing.

Minister for R&B and Infrastructure and Investments B.C. Janardhan Reddy and Minister for Tourism Kandula Durgesh, Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath, MoCA Joint Secretary Asangba Chuba Ao and DH-Canada Regional Vice-President of Sales (Asia Pacific & Middle East) Yogesh Garg was among those present.

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