Seaplane back from Maldives after maintenance, services will resume soon

Twelve days after it was flown to the Maldives for scheduled maintenance, the country’s sole seaplane returned to India on Monday and returns back to Ahmedabad.

Confirming its arrival, SpiceJet spokesperson said, “The aircraft reached Cochin on Monday, and will be soon reaching Ahmedabad.”

The country’s only seaplane operating between Kevadia and Sabarmati riverfront (Ahmedabad) was flown back to the Maldives on February 3. The airline spokesperson said the operation would be suspended only for three days, and “will resume on February 6, 2021. While a facility for day-to-day maintenance has been set up in India, one for larger maintenance is in the works”.

The 15-seater Twin Otter 300 seaplane – is the property of a Maldivian company. The services were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, to boost tourism to the Statue of Unity.

Seaplane services were unable to attract passengers. While sources say it is flying at around 50% capacity, the airline has maintained that the flights to Kevadia are clocking an average load of over 90%.

The first seaplane to operate under the government’s Udey Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) project is being operated by Spice Shuttle, a fully-owned subsidiary of SpiceJet.