Mangalore, Apr 28: The distribution of pamphlets through a Cessna 172 aircraft roped in by the Dakshina Kannada district administration to encourage voters before elections may not have garnered as much enthusiasm among the crowd at Panambur beach two weeks ago, but it was a different story when it came to the joyrides given to people in the aircraft.
The four-seater Cessna was roped in by Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project in association with New Delhi-based Kakini Enterprises to give paid joyrides to interested Mangaloreans in a bid to promote tourism in the coastal district.
The Cessna Skyhawk 172, with the longest safety record, flew over the skies of Mangalore for a period of 10 days, making close to 100 rides in all. Those who had a chance to skim in the four-seater at an altitude of 1,500 metres above sea level, witnessed amazing aerial views of the region, from the coastline to the green pastures in the outskirts of the city.
With years of flying experience to their credit, the pilots Capt Harshit Gupta and Capt Joe Sebastian made the flying seem relatively easy for the passengers during their 20-minute joyrides over the city.
Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project CEO Yathish Baikampady told Coastaldigest.com that although the rides had been planned for nearly 20 days, the exhaustion of fuel for the plane compelled them to limit the rides only for 10 days. This means that even without much publicising, there was good response for the initiative, which may continue in the months to come depending on the people's response.
He said that the next initiative to promote tourism would be an aero show in Mangalore with remote-controlled aircrafts later this year depending on their availability.
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