Planes That Land on Water? SpiceJet Has Big Plans

SpiceJet is in talks to buy 100 amphibious Kodiak planes that can land anywhere.

Indian budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd is in talks with Japan’s Setouchi Holdings Inc to buy about 100 amphibious Kodiak planes that can land anywhere, including on water, gravel or in an open field, Bloomberg reported. The deal, valued at about $400 million, is SpiceJet’s bet at capitalising on PM Modi’s ambitious plan to connect India by air.

“Airports are in short supply in India,” SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh was quoted as saying.

Lots of the 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.

Ajay Singh, SpiceJet Chairman told Bloomberg

Hiroshima-based Setouchi will conduct a demonstration water landing in November, Go Okazaki, an executive managing director in the overseas business division, was quoted as saying.

Also read: SpiceJet ‘Not Strong Enough’ To Buy Air India: Chairman Ajay Singh

The Kodiak Aircraft

The Kodiak aircraft, made by Idaho-based Quest Aircraft Company, can seat either 10 or 14 people. It is capable of taking off or landing on a 300-meter strip of water or land, and has a range of 1,000 kilometers.

The sales agreement could be finalised in as soon as three months, SpiceJet was quoted as saying.

The basic logic for this is that in India, we need last-mile connectivity. The amphibian plane opens up a lot of areas, creates a lot of flexibility.

Ajay Singh to Bloomberg

The SpiceJet owner further suggested that these planes can also could be deployed to tourist sites such as the western lake-town of Udaipur.

Also read: SpiceJet Owner Ajay Singh to Take Over NDTV, Channel Denies Report

“The government doesn’t allow single-engine aircraft to fly commercially because of safety concerns, and any airline trying to operate amphibious aircraft likely will face opposition from environmental groups, local communities and nongovernmental organisations,” said Amber Dubey, India head of aerospace and defense at KPMG .

Aviation regulators are studying whether to allow such planes into the commercial fleet and are reviewing a list of about 20 proposed landing sites, a government official was quoted as saying. Decisions are likely by the end of the year.