SpiceJet says seaplane shuttle service will resume on November 6

SpiceJet has wet-leased an 18-seater Twin Otter 300 seaplane from Maldivian Aero, the national airline of Maldives. Under the agreement, Maldivian Aero will provide crew, maintenance and insurance to the private carrier.

While the airline reiterated that the seaplane "is one of the safest and most widely used aircraft the world over" and "has been serviced at regular intervals and is in top-class condition," experts have pointed out reservations on the 50-year-old aircraft.

While there are restrictions on operating aircraft that are more than 20 -years-old, industry regulator DGCA allows airlines to import older planes on "case-by-case basis."

The SpiceJet spokesperson said, "the aircraft has undergone regular maintenance, overhauling and seat refurbishment. All the required SoPs to operate these flights are in-line with operational guidance of seaplane operations."

Giving further details, he listed:

-Date of Aircraft overhaul - 28.07.2019

-Date of Seat Refurbishment - 28.07.2019

-LH Engine overhaul - 08.10.2019

-RH Engine overhaul - 16.09.2016

"The aircraft is fitted with remarkably efficient Twin Turboprop Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 engines, known for their reliability. The aircraft has an incredible accident free history," said the executive.

But it's not that Twin Otter aircraft haven't been involved in incidents. Data from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives shows that similar Twin Otter aircraft had crashed on October 4, 2017, in Male, Maldives.

Explaining the circumstances, the Archives says:

"Upon landing in the seaplane base of Male-Velana Intl Airport, the airplane struck the water surface, came to rest upside down and sank few meters from the shore. All 17 occupants were rescued while the airplane seems to be written off. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were poor with cumulonimbus and rainfalls."

The schedule

When asked why the seaplane was operating only two flights against the four that was originally planned, the spokesperson said the operations are "non-scheduled flight operations and are completely dependent on passenger demand and bookings. Since the Statue of Unity was closed till Monday, November 2, SpiceShuttle operated only one return flight. More than 100 passengers have flown till now."

SpiceShuttle is the airline unit that is operating the sea shuttle service.

While the airline didn't comment on plans to expand the seaplane fleet, the company was in talks with Japan's Setouchi Holdings to buy 100 seaplanes. The two sides eventually didn't sign an agreement.

As it had mentioned earlier, the company said it had received 3,000 booking requests were received on the launch of the service. "These booking requests are for various dates and days, for example during the period of Diwali a huge number of requests have been received and our teams are processing the same and trying to accommodate as many as we can," the spokesperson said.