Planes will soon be landing directly on the backwaters of Kerala, straight from the airports, thanks to the Seaplane Project, which will soon be launched by the state government in order to further boost tourism.

Speaking to the reporters, Muraleedharan, the Tourist Information Officer of the Department of Tourism, Kerala, said that the state is expecting a 10 percent growth in the tourist arrivals this year and the project is aimed primarily at them, in order to improve the last mile connectivity by air.

In the initial phase, the project will cover the priority circuit of the three major airports of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhkode, linking destinations like Asthamudi, Punnameda, Kumarokam, Bolgatty, and Bekal.

The plane, with seating capacity of 10 to 25 persons, will take off from the nearby airport and land at the backwaters.

A total of 7,75,390 foreign tourists had arrived in Kerala as of October 2015, which was 6.6 percent higher than the previous year. Domestic tourism in 2014 stood at 116,95,411 against 108,57,811 in 2013, a growth of 7.71 percent

In terms of foreign exchange earned, the numbers stood at Rs.6,398.93 crores in 2014, an increase of 15.07 percent over the previous year, Muraleedharan said.