SpiceJet to have two daily seaplane flights between Ahmedabad & Statue of Unity

NEW DELHI: SpiceJet will operate two daily seaplane flights between Ahmedabad Sabarmati riverfront and the Statue of Unity in Kevadia from Saturday (Oct 31), the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
The all-inclusive one-way fares will start from Rs 1,500 under the UDAN scheme. The cash-strapped airline’s subsidiary, Spice Shuttle, will be using a 15-seater Twin Otter 300 aircraft that has been wet-leased from Maldivian Aero, Maldives’ national airline.
SpiceJet has won 18 seaplane routes under the government's UDAN (ude desh ka aam nagrik) scheme and will begin with Ahmedabad-Statue of Unity.
SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh said: “The launch of our first seaplane service will be remembered as one of the most notable events in the history of Indian aviation… Our seaplane service between the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad and Statue of Unity in Kevadia will cut down travel time to just about half an hour and will be a unique, exhilarating flying experience… Infrastructural challenges have been a key deterrent for providing air connectivity to smaller towns and cities. With the ability to land on a small water body, seaplanes are the perfect flying machines that can effectively connect the remotest parts of India into the mainstream aviation network without the high cost of building airports and runways.”
The airline said seaplane tickets will be available on www.spiceshuttle.com from Friday (Oct 30) onwards.
SpiceJet has conducted seaplane trials in India since 2017 in Nagpur, Guwahati and Mumbai’s Girgaum Chowpatty. The 18 seaplane routes the airline has got under UDAN include: Ahmedabad-Kevadia (Sabarmati River Front to Statue of Unity, Sardar Sarovar), Agatti-Minicoy and Agatti-Kavaratti.
“Regions in the northeast, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andaman, Lakshadweep and other coastal areas are a few destinations that are being evaluated for amphibious plane (that can take off and land from water and land) operations,” the airline said in a statement.