SpiceJet, 2-3 cos express interest in undertaking seaplane services
Two to three companies as well as SpiceJet have expressed interest in undertaking seaplane services on various routes proposed by the government.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways had, in January, sought expression of interest from airlines for seaplane services on select routes on a commercial basis. The last date for submission of expressions of interest was Jan 22.
"A coordination committee has been formed between the shipping ministry and the aviation ministry. The infrastructure will be set up by the shipping ministry, while the operations of the planes under the UDAN scheme will be the responsibility of the aviation ministry," Mansukh Mandaviya, shipping minister, said.
The government had also received interest from entities, which have earlier said they would be open to manufacturing seaplanes in the country, Mandaviya said.
The project execution, implementation, joint development and operation of seaplane services will be through Sagarmala Development Co Ltd, which is under the shipping ministry's administrative control.
Sagarmala Development plans to form special purpose vehicles with such airline companies to jointly identify hubs or origins-destinations, develop land-side facilities, waterfront facilities, procure or lease seaplanes, and develop and operate seaplanes and facilities on a commercially and financially viable basis, the ministry had said.
According to the terms and conditions, equity support from Sagarmala Development Co in the special purpose vehicle will be limited to a maximum of 49% and the remaining equity investment will be from the airline partner.
The proposed origin-destination pairs under the huband-spoke model include various islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, Guwahati riverfront and Umranso reservoir in Assam, Yamuna riverfront with Delhi as a hub to Ayodhya, Tehri, Srinagar (Uttrakhand), Chandigarh.
Other pairs include Mumbai as hub to Shirdi, Lonavala, Ganpatipule; Surat as hub to Dwarka, Mandvi, and Kandla; Khindsi Dam, Nagpur and Erai Dam, Chandrapur in Maharashtra, and any other destination suggested by the operator.