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The first ever seaplane service in India was launched in Kerala in 2013. Though it was a short-lived project, it provided a hint for expansion across India. The seaplane service between the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad and the Statue of Unity in Narmada district, Gujarat, in 2022 was widely reported as India's first. Now the first hill station to have seaplane services will be Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh.
Currently, the nearest airport to Dalhousie is Gaggal Airport in Pathankot. From there, you have to take the road to Dalhousie. However, in the coming years, you will be able to land directly in Dalhousie because the Government of India has identified it as a potential location to start seaplane services.
Additionally, according to plans by the aviation ministry, a total of 21 locations in various states across India will receive this service in the near future. We will definitely talk about those places later in this article.
What is a seaplane?
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft designed to take off and land on water. It can operate not only on the sea but also on rivers such as the Sabarmati and Ganga, as well as large bodies of water like lakes.
What Minister of Tourism Says
According to Minister of Tourism G. Kishan Reddy, who spoke in a recent Lok Sabha session, the Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to State Governments, UT Administrations, and Central Government Agencies for the development of tourism-related infrastructure, including facilities for tourism in lakes and rivers.
Additionally, the infrastructure developed for transportation on National Waterways by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), such as fairways, terminals, jetties, and navigation aids, is also utilized by river tourism operators.
Work Progress under Ministry of Civil Aviation
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has introduced a new mode of transportation with seaplane operations from water aerodromes under UDAN-3.
On June 15, 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of seaplane services in India.
The Government of India is working on the various seaplane projects across the nation. It's an ongoing process, so the date of launch of the upcoming water aerodromes is not yet decided.
List of Water Aerodromes identified under UDAN
The details of 21 identified water aerodromes in the states of Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, and Lakshadweep are as follows: Here is the HTML table code for the given data:
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| Sr. No. | State | Water Aerodrome |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andaman & Nicobar (UT) | Swaraj Dweep (W) |
| 2 | Andaman & Nicobar (UT) | Long Island (W) |
| 3 | Andaman & Nicobar (UT) | Mayabunder (W) |
| 4 | Andaman & Nicobar (UT) | Shaheed Dweep (W) |
| 5 | Andhra Pradesh | Prakasam Barrage (W) |
| 6 | Assam | Guwahati River Front (W) |
| 7 | Assam | Kaziranga |
| 8 | Goa | North Goa |
| 9 | Goa | South Goa |
| 10 | Gujarat | Dwarka (W) |
| 11 | Gujarat | Sabarmati River Front (W) |
| 12 | Gujarat | Statue of Unity (W) |
| 13 | Himachal Pradesh | Dalhousie (W) |
| 14 | Lakshadweep Island | Agatti (W) |
| 15 | Lakshadweep | Minicoy (W) |
| 16 | Lakshadweep | Kavaratti (W) |
| 17 | Lakshadweep | Kalpeni (W) |
| 18 | Lakshadweep | Bitra (W) |
| 19 | Lakshadweep | Kadmat (W) |
| 20 | Lakshadweep | Kiltan (W) |
| 21 | Lakshadweep | Bangaram (W) |
Data Source: Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. Note "W" means Work in Progress.
