India: Seaplane Tender Floated Again, 3 Firms Interested
Plans Afoot To Relaunch Ahmedabad-To-Kevadia Seaplane Route; Mumbai, Surat Firms File Tenders.
The Ahmedabad-to-Kevadia seaplane service was started in October 2020 but has not run on a regular basis for a major part. Now, the state government is attempting to reboot the project and has invited tenders for operating the seaplanes. Three private firms have applied for tenders.
The seaplane service was announced by PM Narendra Modi back in 2017 during the previous state election campaign. It was started three years later, making it the first seaplane service in the country. The contract for operating the service was initially given to Spicejet airline, but soon after starting the service, the plane was sent back to Maldives for repairs. Recently, SpiceJet withdrew from the contract and the central government handed over the service to the state government as no alternative was found.
Sources in the state aviation department said that tenders have now been issued with the intention of starting the service at the earliest. Among the three companies that have participated in the tendering process are Mer Air of Mumbai, Ventura Company from Surat and another private firm from Gujarat. “All the three companies have adequate experience in aircraft flying and maintenance. The contract will be given for a period of three years,” a source said. The last date for the tender is January 11.
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