Heli-tour to take off on Saturday, tourists can visit major Kerala destinations in a day

Kochi: Proving the sky is the limit for Kerala Tourism, it is all set to launch its pan-Kerala Heli – tour project. The first helicopter carrying tourists under the new initiative would take off from Cochin International Airport in the presence of State Tourism Minister Mohammed Riyas and other distinguished guests on Saturday evening.

Choppers with a capacity to carry 6 to 12 passengers are operated. To begin with, major tourism destinations in the State such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Jadayupara near Kottarakara, Pathanamthita, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Idukki , Munnar, Kumarakam, Kozhikode and Kasargod are connected under the scheme. The Heli-tour is scheduled in such a way that the tourists could visit all these destinations in a sday.

Riyas hopes that the new initiative would improve the connectivity to the major tourism destinations in the state and it would in turn increase the footfall at them. The minister is also of the view that it would help the tourism sector of the State compete with other international destinations.

He said that the government is planning to construct helipads at Bakel and other major tourism destination so that these centers too could be connected with the Heli-tour. The Heli-tour is mainly eyeing high-end luxury ocean liner tourists who drop in Kochi for a single day. Number of ocean liners calling in Kochi has been increasing.

The minister said that only helicopter operators registered with Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are considered for Heli-tour operations.

The project is being implemented with participation of private sector and the role of the government is that of facilitator, the minister said

Kerala Tourism calls the new initiative as a `` brand new travel experience in God’s Own Country.’’

Tour operators hope that the new initiative will equip Kerala to take on challenges posed by other global destinations like Sri Lanka, Thailand and domestic destination like Andaman & Nicobar