In August this year, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced revised and simplified norms for seaplane operations in India. De Havilland Aircraft of Canada or DHC will be doing a demo tour in India this November. The company which was formed after Bombardier decided to divest its stake in the aviation sector will bring its DHC-6 aircraft on a demo tour.
The DHC-6 Twin Otter comes with various options like Wheels, Floats, Amphibious Floats, Wheel Skis, Skis, Intermediate Flotation Gear for its landing gear configurations. Flybig is an operator of this type in India and after the ATR’s left the fleet, flybig operates only the Twin Otters, four of which are part of its fleet.. In June 2023, Indian regional carrier flybig and DHC signed LoI and purchase agreement for 10 DHC Twin Otter aircraft. Little has been heard about it from either DHC or flybig since then and not a single brand new Twin Otter has joined flybig’s fleet. These are the land based versions.
As per DHC, the India demo tour plan involves starting from Vijayawada. The trials will start from Prakasam Barrage which is a British era construction in Vijayawada, on river Krishna. The next stop is scheduled to be Nagarjuna Sagar – one the major dams on the Krishna river. The current Minister of Civil Aviation belongs to Andhra Pradesh.
The action then shifts to Krishna Raja Sagar on river Kaveri, on the outskirts of Mysuru, more famous for the Brindavan Gardens and then to Kochi in the state of Kerala which already has four international airports but has a large potential for seaplane operations due to extensive backwaters, waterways and sea front at major cities like Kochi. From Kochi, the next plane is expected to fly to Khadakwasla Dam on the outskirts of Pune, a constituency represented by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
The action will then shift to the North East with flights between Guwahati river front and Umiam lake in Meghalaya, before moving to the Andaman and Nicobar islands for some flights.
SpiceJet’s seaplane operations
During COVID times, SpiceJet which had won routes under RCS-UDAN for seaplane operations started the operations between Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad to Statue of Unity with much fanfare which saw the Hon. The Prime Minister inaugurated the flights. The wet leased operation did not last long with the plane making one trip back to Maldives and then going back for good. Interestingly, the airline had started a different website to handle bookings of these flights and was not part of the regular SpiceJet website.
No other routes where the airline won the bids were started. One of the reasons often cited was the lack of facilities for seaplanes in India and the entire ecosystem of pilots, training, engineering, etc.
New rules to the rescue?
The government came up with new rules for seaplane operations which are considered favourable. The revised guidelines would enable the seaplane operations under RCS to make use of the operations under a Non-Scheduled Operator Permit (NSOP). The extension of the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the RCS to seaplane operations would provide the initial fillip to the Operators. While seeking to promote seaplane operations, due care has been taken to ensure the safety and security of the operations. Among the regulatory changes, fresh Commercial Pilot License (CPL) holders can now directly obtain seaplane ratings that will allow them to fly seaplanes. According to the ministry, the simplified guidelines will allow seaplane operations by Non-Scheduled Operators (NSOPs).
Network Thoughts
Despite the challenges, particularly with development of water aerodromes, the government is going the extra mile to push seaplane operations. For an established player, entering this segment is challenging because it involves a new aircraft type, unknown operations and a network which does not gel well with the existing network of the airline.
On the other hand, newer players have had a shoddy and poor record even under RCS-UDAN with Air Deccan and Air Odisha – the early movers not being able to continue operations. Allowing NSOP players to enter the segment opens up the field partially for those who are willing to risk and expand. How many will? We will know the interest this tour generates soon.
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