First hydroplane landed in the country
ViaNica.com | Jan 14, 2011
The first of three hydroplanes that will start operating within the next few months - in order to connect tourist destinations - arrived in Lake Managua on Wednesday, January 12th. The small plane, which has capacity for nine passengers, flew from Canada and was received with honors by government officials.
This, and the other planes, will be operated by the Canadian company Air Wing, which together with the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism and other authorities are designing routes for daily connecting flights. The other two seaplanes have capacity for up to 22 passengers (without luggage), and will arrive in the country in the next two months, said Mario Salinas, president of INTUR.
Although the prices and schedules haven´t been established , the first plane will be used to connect Managua with the town of San Juan de Nicaragua, located in the mouth of the San Juan River in the Caribbean. Salinas stated that the structural conditions are being prepared in the Indio River, which flows in front of the town. The rates, he said, will be affordable for Nicaraguans.
According to Virgilio Silva, President of the National Port Enterprise (EPN), the flights schedule will start by mid February. The first plane - and the rest to come - will operate at the Salvador Allende Port, in Managua, where the goverment and the Canadian company are working to complete the conditions for takeoff and lanfing services.
"The benefits are incalculable," said Mario Salinas, who also assured that a great number of Nicaraguan destinations will be accesible in less than an hour. In addition, he claimed that the connecting flights will benefit the local communities. The routes, according to Salinas, will connect sites like Solentiname, the Fonseca Gulf, Apanas Lake, Pear Lagoon, and many others.