Gujarat seaplane services: Travellers can once start booking to enjoy seaplane flights between the Statue of Unity near Kevadiya in Gujarat's Narmada district and the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad from December 27. The airlines have resumed their services and opened the booking services from Sunday, the airline said. Also Read: In Pics| A Glimpse Of Futuristic Ayodhya Mosque And Hospital Plan, Foundation Stone To Be Laid On August 15

What is being announced?

SpiceShuttle, the fully-owned subsidiary of SpiceJet, will resume its seaplane operations between Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Riverfront and Kevadia's Statue of Unity from December 27, 2020, with two daily flights on the route, as per the statement from the private airline.

Captain Ajay Chauhan, the director of Civil Aviation, Gujarat said that few aircraft were gone for maintenance to the Maldives, and are coming back on December 27, as per the ANI report.

What is the attraction of the seaplane service?

Seaplanes are basically fixed-wing aircraft with a much fewer number of seats and can take off from, and land on, water. Such aircraft have been in use since 19th century.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31 inaugurated the airline's seaplane service between the two destinations. However, the airline suspended the service after a few days due to mandatory aircraft maintenance.

The 19-seater plane covers a distance of around 200 km in 40 minutes, operating the shuttle service between Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad and the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya.

SpiceJet's subsidiary Spice Shuttle operates two daily seaplane flights between the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad and the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya in the state.

People are excited about seaplane because it is coming for the first time in India. Within a month, the seaplane has completed 70 trips, about 700-750 passengers have traveled by it. “It has been good, this will pick up more in the coming one or two months. This will be a great service in Ahmedabad," added Chauhan.

The seaplane service in Ahmedabad is operated by SpiceJet's subsidiary Spice Shuttle under the UDAN scheme. The airline is already considering other routes and destinations. Some of the seaplane routes under consideration include Port Blair to Havelock, Delhi to Haridwar, Delhi to Rishikesh, and Naini lake, Udaipur, Dal lake, Leh, and backwaters in Kerala, Spicejet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh had said.