Mumbai, July 6 (IANS): With the Simhasta Kumbh Mela round the corner, the temple town of Nashik was on Monday connected to Pune by a seaplane service, an official said.

Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (Mehair) Pvt. Ltd. will initially run the to-and-fro service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and later increase the frequency depending on public demand.

With the launch of the service, the almost seven-hour road travel time between the two cities that are 210 km apart has been slashed to around 50 minutes.

"Nashik is big on religious tourism and also has a well developed industrial market. The city holds enough potential to make the service sustainable in the long run through regular passenger traffic to Pune, Mumbai and other destinations," said Siddharth Verma, Mehair director and co-founder.

The flights on the Cessna 208A amphibious aircraft, which can carry nine passengers and two crew, are operated from HAL airport in Nashik to Lohegaon Airport in Pune.