Naidu Sees AP Becoming India’s Maldives

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that the tourism sector will get a boost with seaplane services in the state. At the same time, it will create employment in a big way.

Naidu was speaking after launching the trial run for seaplane services at Prakasam barrage in Vijayawada this morning. The seaplane services would upgrade tourism sector to an industry.

Envisioning a boom for tourism in the state, having a long sea coast, he said that it will create wealth, employment, excitement and a new experience for the people. The seaplane service will allow pilgrims to visit Vijayawada and Srisailam temples in one day.

By road, it will take 8 hours to travel from Vijayawada to Srisailam but the seaplane will cut it short to 45-50 minutes. Naidu thanked the people for taking a wise decision and voting to the TDP coalition government during the last elections.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who played a pivotal role in the sanctioning of the seaplane service to AP, said there is a huge potential for seaplane operations in India.

“Maldives is a very tiny country, yet it thrives on tourism. In Maldives, which is the size of one district in AP, around 110 seaplanes continuously provide services to the tourists. AP also will witness a boom in the tourism sector after the launch of seaplane services,” he said.

Spicejet chairman Ajay Singh, who also attended the programme, lauded Naidu for encouraging them to launch the seaplane services in 2017 itself. At that time, Chandrababu Naidu asked us to think out of the box to improve connectivity and now, we will make it a reality very soon.

The tourism sector was one among the several neglected areas by the YCP government. Except for unveiling the Visit AP campaign, the former CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy did little to improve tourism facilities or ideate on new tourist attractions.

The seaplane service is expected to receive a good response from the public as it would give an exhilarating experience to travel on water in an aircraft.