Travellers will soon be able to cruise on the backwaters directly from the Kochi airport

Travellers will soon be able to take a boat directly from the Kochi Airport and cruise into the backwaters, thanks to the service that will soon be started by the Kerala Waterways and Infrastructures Limited (KWIL), which is a joint venture of the Kerala Government and the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
Read more: 5 gateways into Kerala’s backwaters

KWIL has been given the task to make Kerala’s 611-km long waterway navigable and also connect it with the airports in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur. Revealing that work on the project will be started soon, CIAL Managing Director V J Kurian said that when the boat service starts, it will connect the Kochi Airport to the Kochi Marine Drive.

In order to keep the ecosystem of the river intact, the boats that will be operated for this service will be solar-powered.The Chengal Thodu river will connect the airport with Marine Drive through Periyar and backwaters in Kochi.

Also, the Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur airports will be connected with the Chakka water body and the Anjarakandy River respectively.

There will be three major waterways in Kerala that will help in boosting the state’s tourism and cargo movement, including the two national waterways, Kollam-Kottapuram and Kottapuram-Kozhikode stretches. These waterways pass through all the major districts of the state, leaving out the ones located in the hills.