This Low-Cost Carrier is Adding, Seaplanes?

Not content with its status as one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines and the 10-fold increase in its stock over three years, SpiceJet may soon expand into flying seaplanes.

Bloomberg reported that the airline is talking with Setouchi Holdings Inc. to purchase about 100 amphibious Kodiak planes, a deal worth about $400 million.

The new planes would be capable of landing nearly anywhere in the country, such as on water, gravel or even an open field.

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Acquiring the planes would allow the airline to target billions of Indians who have never flown before, often because they don’t live near a functioning airport.

The purchase would also bolster Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of connecting India by air without being stalled by the need for billions of dollars in improvements to colonial infrastructure.

“Airports are in short supply in India,” SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh was quoted by Bloomberg stating. “Lots of growth in India is happening in small markets, but those small markets have little or no connectivity. So we are looking for a solution where we can get flights to places where no airports exist.”

Days after the airline’s talks with Setouchi became public, two more firms came forward expressing interest in providing amphibious planes, Business Today reported.

"India has a huge potential in seaplanes that can overhaul connectivity. A Russian firm has approached us for supplying 50-seater amphibious planes which have multiple uses right from passenger and cargo transportation to firefighting, rescue, and defense operations," the transport and water resources minister Nitin Gadkari said.

While the proposed purchase may seem like minor news to some, India is a major travel destination and home to the third largest domestic flight market in the world, behind China and the United States.

Airlines in the vast South Asian country handled 100 million domestic passengers last year, according to Bloomberg.

And despite that substantial number of annual domestic passengers, about 97 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people have still never been on an airplane. This has a great deal to do with the challenge of finding places to pick up and drop off passengers.

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The country is plagued by decrepit airstrips, dormant airports and facilities that have suffered years of neglect.

SpiceJet’s acquisition of seaplanes could help ease some of the challenges. The planes, able to seat 10 to 14 people, can take off and land on a 300-meter strip of water or land. The new planes could allow the carrier to land at up to 300 airports throughout the country that are not currently in use.

The planes could also be used to reach various remote tourist sites in a country that already attracts about 8 million tourists annually, according to India's Ministry of Tourism.

“High-end tourists use amphibious aircraft at exotic locations all over the world,” Amber Dubey, India head of aerospace and defense at KPMG, told Bloomberg. “There’s no reason why it can’t be successful in India.”

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