Seaplane project awaits DGCA nod for take-off

Alappuzha: The seaplane flown in from the US in October last year by Seabird Seaplane Private Limited, a company based in Kochi, is yet to make its trial run on Indian waters. The trial run is a prerequisite for the 10-seater amphibian aircraft to get a nod from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for operating flights within the country.

The aircraft, which landed at the Cochin International Airport four months ago, has been undergoing examinations to for obtaining an Indian licence. The company, which plans to operate flights from Kochi to Lakshadweep, is hopeful of getting all the required clearances within two months.
“Commercial operations are expected to start by the end of March or early April,” a spokesman of the company told The Hindu .

The plane, which is currently stationed in Sri Lanka, will be flown in for local trials on water.

The air-route trials in the Kochi-Lakshadweep sector have been carried out. Now, a ‘water drome’ has to be set up at Agatti for the plane to land. It is now for the authorities to set up the necessary infrastructure for the operation of the seaplane.

Seabird plans to operate flights in the Kochi-Lakshadweep sector initially.
22/02/16 R. Ramabhadran Pillai/The Hindu

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Rookie pilots are in a flap as training fees hit the sky

Budget airline SpiceJet charges its rookie pilots Rs 40 lakh each to teach them how to operate Boeing 737 aircraft, a training and certification process for which other carriers demand only Rs 14 lakh, some recruits alleged on Thursday. The trainee pilots claimed they had been informed that Rs 20 lakh would have to be paid up front, while the remainder would be deducted from their salaries over a period of five years.
But a SpiceJet spokesperson strongly refuted the claim and said that the airline had never deducted any money from pilots' salaries.
"SpiceJet is not taking any money from its 737-rated pilots. A sum of only Rs 20 lakh is sought as a deposit from the candidates towards empty aircraft flying training and subsequent upgrade training," the official said in a statement.
"The Rs 40 lakh fee is basically a donation," one recruit with a commercial pilot licence (CPL) said. "We have already spent Rs 35 lakh to obtain CPL and the airline now expects us to shell out Rs 40 lakh. We will spend around nine months in training and earn only a stipend during the period," the pilot said. He added that professional training colleges charged only Rs 9 lakh to Rs 12 lakh for the same process. The SpiceJet spokesperson clarified that a sum of Rs 40 lakh to Rs 45 lakh was applicable only in certain cases. "Again, [there is] no deduction from salary," the official said.
05/02/16 Bangalore Mirror

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Seaplane Project Take-off Set to Face Further Delay

Thiruvananthapuram: The controversial seaplane project is set to face further delay as no concrete decision, on when commercial operations could start, could be taken at a meeting chaired by Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar here on Tuesday.

The minister told the meeting attended by seaplane operators that further steps towards commencing seaplane operations could be taken only when the seaplanes got operational clearance from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The state government, on its part, assured the operators that it would provide all necessary support in obtaining clearance from the DGCA. The minister also said that a trial flight in the Ashtamudi lake could be also carried out only after the aircraft obtained necessary clearances.

In order to address the concerns of fishermen before commencing seaplane service, a trial operation flight would be conducted in the Ashtamudi lake. That was necessary to convince the fishermen that seaplane operations would not affect marine resources or fishing activities, Anil Kumar said.
03/04/16 New Indian Express

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Fresh bid to revive seaplane project

Thiruvananthapuram: A last attempt to revive the seaplane project before the tenure of the United Democratic Front government ends has commenced with the arrival of the U.S.-made amphibian aircraft Quest Kodiak 100 in the State capital from Colombo.

The 10-seater seaplane, which belongs to Seabird Seaplane Pvt. Ltd, landed at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Monday even as the operators were awaiting the nod from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the test flight.

Since the amphibian aircraft is yet to be registered in the country, it has been shuttling between the island nation and Kochi since it first arrived in October last from the South St. Paul airport in the U.S. The company has commenced operations between Kerala and Lakshadweep.

The operators will meet Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar and Kerala Tourism officials in the capital on Tuesday to work out the way forward, official sources told The Hindu . Sooraj Jose and Sudhiesh from Kerala are among the crew and the aircraft can carry eight passengers.

“We have got the DGCA clearance for the waterdromes. The operators are awaiting the nod for the test flight and to complete the registration formalities,” an official said. Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited (KTIL) is the nodal agency for the flagship project.
02/02/16 The Hindu

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