Kerala will soon open up its coast and plentiful waterways Sea planes. It has set aside Rs 12 crore for developing landing and staging spots, as well as other required infrastructure, to operate amphibious planes, or seaplanes, in 22 tourist destinations, according to Suman Billa, the state\'stourism secretary.

\"Operators will not have to pay any fees for using this infrastructure for the first three years and ATF (aviation turbine fuel) taxes will also be waived,\" said tourism secretary Billa. The seaplanes, which are nine-to-19-seater aircraft, will cut travel time in a state where the fastest trains take as much as seven hours to traverse it and the roads are choc-a-bloc with traffic.

Also, a profile of the project by the state said that by introducing these planes the government could avoid large-scale displacement , demolition and rehabilitation that usually accompany road widening and other measures to ease congestion. It now takes about four hours to reach Munnar, a hill station, by road from the state\'s commercial capital Kochi. \"A seaplane can cover the around 135 km distance in about 30 minutes ,\" said Mehair\'s Verma.

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