The company is in talks with APM Terminals, the port operator, for the seaplane connectivity, a Mehair official said.
Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (Mehair), a Juhu based aviation company which is set to introduce Juhu airport – Girgaum Chowpatty shuttle seaplane services, is looking to introduce similar service between Mumbai and Pipavav port.
The company is in talks with APM Terminals, the port operator, for the seaplane connectivity, a Mehair official said.
"There are several companies around the port area which would also like to use the seaplane services," the official said.
At present it takes about 12-14 hours by road to reach Pipavav from Mumbai and air connectivity from Mumbai to nearest airport Diu is intermittent with a flight taking off mid-day and expensive. Also it takes about two hours from Diu to reach the port, and flights to Bhavnagar, from where it takes four hours to reach the port, have been discontinued recently.
"Considering all such difficulties, a person is able to reach the destination only by evening. Hence for attending a meeting one will have to travel a day before," said Siddharth Verma, director, Mehair.
"With seaplane services, one will be able to reach in 45 minutes of flying time and that too right at the port waters," he said.
With a total land area of about 631 hectare, Pipavav is an all-weather port providing immediate access to a rich hinterland and key markets in northwest India.
In another related development, Mehair is toying with the idea of starting similar services for corporates connecting Girgaum Chowpatty with Bhama Askhed dam near MIDC in Talegaon near Pune, which houses several automobile and other companies.
The company in mid-September plans to start India's first shuttle services connecting Juhu airport with Girgaum Cchowpatty in seven minutes of flying time at a promotional offer of Rs 999 per person. The chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier this year announced that all related permissions except the collector were obtained. The project was mooted more than two years ago by State Tourism
Corporation and is targeted at office-goers who travel by cars or taxis. The services to other destinations like Pavana dam, Shirdi, and in Konkan belt of Ganpatipule and Tarkarli is also expected to start around the same time, the officials said.
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