Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Water Aerodrome at Kevadia and the Sea-plane Service connecting Statue of Unity in Kevadia with Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad on October 31, 202. The inauguration strategically took place on the 145th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. The Statue of Unity is dedicated to him. It is the world's tallest statue with a height of 182 metres (597 feet). It is located on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya colony, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city of Vadodara and 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Surat.
According to the Press Information Bureau of India, these are part of a series of Water Aerodromes being planned to bring the last mile connectivity. Seaplanes have the ability to land and take-off from water thus offering access to areas that do not have landing strips or runways. Thus it can help in connecting the geographies/regions that have challenges owing to its topography and bring the remotest parts of India into the mainstream aviation network without the high cost of building airports and runways. These smaller fixed wing airplanes can land on water bodies like lakes, backwaters and dams, gravel and grass, thus offering easy access to numerous tourist spots as well.
The 30-minute flights will operate through its subsidiary Spice Shuttle and start from 1,500 rupees (£15.40) one-way. SpiceJet will be using Twin Otter 300 seaplanes, built by planemaker de Havilland Canada. They can seat up to 19 people, including passengers and crew."The Twin Otter is very popular among smaller operators, and is frequently used as a seaplane, most notably in the Maldives," said Greg Waldron at FlightGlobal magazine. SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh said the seaplanes would help improve regional connectivity - an initiative being encouraged by the Indian government - "without the high cost of building airports and runways", thanks to the planes being able to take-off and land both on small water bodies and short airstrips.
According to the BBC, SpiceJet started conducting seaplane trials in India in 2017 in Nagpur, Guwahati and Mumbai. It has been exploring air connectivity through water bodies such as rivers or inland waterways. During national lockdowns in India, SpiceJet remained active flying repatriation flights for more than 1m Indians.
