Come October, a brand new seaplane flown into Kerala, will complete two years of its idle phase. The craft, brought by the Kochi-based Seabird Seaplane Private Limited, is yet to get the necessary clearances for commercial operations.
The company had charted out ambitious plans for launching flights in the Kerala-Lakshadweep sector. The Quest Kodiak 100 seaplane has a capacity of 10 persons, including the pilot.
Procedural delays have caused unexpected loss to the venture, but the company is hopeful of getting the required certifications from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) soon. Permissions are required from different authorities in Kerala and Lakshadweep, apart from the DGCA. “No dates have been set for the operations to commence,” a spokesperson of the aviation enterprise said.
Obviously, the company does not want to announce the dates until all the preparations have been completed. In fact, the targets set earlier could not be met. The company wanted to bring one more seaplane to make full fledged services, but the plan for the second craft has been kept in abeyance, the spokesperson said.
Apart from Kavaratti and Minicoy, the itineraries planned included Bengaluru, Bekal, Kadavu, Kumarakom, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram.
Alappuzha, one of the initial itineraries selected by the government when the seaplane flight was inaugurated in Kerala in 2013, has not been included by the operator this time. The plan to build a waterdrome in the backwaters of Alappuzha has reached nowhere.
Why is seaplane operations having a seemingly tough time in India? The question, posted during an online chat to the International Seaplane Pilots Association by The Hindu recently , received a cryptic reply from the other end: “Politics, that appears to be the main problem. Too much corruption as well as lack of professional services. Things are not being done correctly or safely.”
Nevertheless, several operators nurture plans to launch seaplane services. Mehair, which had operated in Maharashtra, and another well known private aviation company operating regular commercial flights in the Indian skies, are understood to be among such entities.
