India commences seaplane operations with Maldivian assistance

Male’, Maldives – India has launched the country’s first seaplane operations on Saturday, with the assistance of the flag carrier of Maldives, Maldivian.

The seaplane service which commenced between Kevadia and Ahmedabad in Gujrat state is being provided by SpiceJet, which chartered a seaplane from the Maldivian seaplane fleet for the operations, which were launched under the UDAN scheme aiming to make air travel more affordable and accessible regionally.

The maiden flight, which was launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on the National Unity Day of India, flew from Kevadia to Ahmedabad, which is the home for the country’s Statue of Unity.

The High Commission of India took to Twitter to celebrate the occasion, calling it a “historic moment” for Maldives and India, and a “dawn of a new era” for the civil aviation ties between both countries.

Local media ‘Sun’ quoted the Managing Director of Island Aviation, which operates Maldivian saying, “This opportunity will boost the confidence between the two countries considerably and greatly boost trade. The trust and confidence from a company such as SpiceJet will further facilitate the efforts to elevate air travel to the next stage. We will make good use of this opportunity,”

India and Maldives have been strengthening diplomatic relations, which India helping Maldives with multiple different projects of various scales throughout the country, since the administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih came on to power.