A turbulent journey so far for seaplanes in India

Seaplane were first put to use in Andaman and Nicobar islands in 2010

GN Bureau | December 12, 2017


#Sabarmati   #Gujarat Polls   #Narendra Modi   #Seaplane   #Seaplanes  


Prime minister Narendra Modi’s seaplane ride in Gujarat is certainly unique, but it is not as historic as it is being made out to be.

Gujarat chief Minister Vijay Rupani said this is for the first time in the history of the country that a sea-plane will land on a water body and that will be the Sabarmati river. "Modi will travel in the plane from here to Dharoi. He will visit Ambaji temple and come back from Dharoi to Sabarmati in the same plane," Economic Times quoted Rupani as saying.

Rupani may have got the facts wrong.

The first seaplane operation began in India in 2010. It was launched in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The tariff was different for islanders and the tourists. It was a convenient way of travel between the islands.

The service was later stopped as it became financially unviable, reported Times of India.

Kerala too tried to have a seaplane service, but it faltered. The state’s first seaplane flight took off from Kollam on June 2, 2013. The commercial operations could not start due to opposition from local fishermen.

Aviation experts have not lost hope of seeing viable seaplane operations.

Spicejet wants to buy 100 amphibian carriers at a cost of $400 million. Livemint reported that the budget carrier has conducted the second phase of the seaplane trials at the Girgaum Chowpatty off Mumbai’s coast.

In the first phase, the trials were conducted in Nagpur and Guwahati.

Comments

 

Other News

Repo rate cut by 25 basis points to 6.25%

The Reserve Bank of India has, for the first time in five years, reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.25% with immediate effect. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate will stand adjusted to 6.00% and the marginal

Amitav Ghosh’s new work: Connections between the word and the world

Wild Fictions: Essays By Amitav Ghosh HarperCollins, 496 pages, Rs 799.00 Amitav Ghosh, one of a handful of Ind

How markets can help (and also hinder) fight against pollution

In the annals of environmental policy, few ideas have been as transformative as the Emissions Trading System (ETS). Born from the minds of economists in the late 1960s, this market-based approach to pollution control has evolved from a theoretical concept to a global tool in the fight against climate chang

Will Bihar complement the resolution of Viksit Bharat 2047?

As India completes its diamond jubilee as a republic, I am reminded of a statement by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, delivered during an address to the Bihar Chamber of Commerce in Patna on March 28, 2006. He said, “I have visited Bihar numerous times, and it has always been a source of happiness for me to

All you wanted to know about Budget: Key Highlights

Here are the key highlights of the proposal of the Union Budget presented in parliament by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Satuday: NO INCOME TAX ON AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME OF UPTO RS 1 LAKH; TO BOOST MIDDLE CLASS HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS & CONSUMPTION BENEFITTING

Four engines of development: Agriculture, MSME, investment & exports

Union minister of finance and corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament on Saturday. Here is the summary of her budget speech, Part A: Quoting Telugu poet and playwright Shri Gurajada Appa Rao’s famous saying, ‘A country is not just its

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now



Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter