Mehair plans to get into regional connectivity ops to crossfeed amphibian plane services
The central government’s plan to include amphibian planes under much touted Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) has now made a Mumbai-based aviation company rethink its business strategy.
Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd ( Mehair), which till now was struggling to run its amphibian plane operations smoothly due to bureaucratic hurdles and poor demand, has now decided to get into regional air connectivity operations in order to crossfeed its amphibian plane service business. Mehair that earlier offered connectivity in Maharastra and Andaman and Nicobar is said to be inducting 10 twin-engine aircraft for connecting the Tier II and III geographies with the metros.
After receiving the request for inclusion from a few players, civil aviation ministry has even begun conducting mandatory tests for granting licences to construct water aerodromes in Maharashtra, north-eastern states and other places. Under RCS, the carrier operator is mandated to fly a certain number of seats at price under Rs 2,500 for which they get compensated from the government.
“As part of its new business initiative, Mehair is inducting 19-seater, twin-engine aircraft for connecting the tier-II and tier-III geographies with the metros through its own initiative,” it announced on its website.
Siddharth Verma , director, Mehair, refused to comment when contacted by DNA Money.
The development comes weeks after the leading low-cost carrier SpiceJet announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan’s Setouchi Holdings to fly amphibian planes in the country starting with north-eastern states, which though poorly connected, has tremendous scope for growth on account of tourism and industries.
Ajay Singh-promoted SpiceJet, which made a dramatic turn-around of its fortune from a near shut-down of its operations couple of years back, is apparently banking heavily on its regional connectivity network to feed its amphibian plane business. The carrier also runs operations with smaller aircraft under regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
SpiceJet’s plan is to escalate the operations to over 100 amphibian planes in order to turn profitable. The list price of each aircraft stands around $4 million, which means the fleet of around 100 aircraft will cost around $400 million. The company is exploring to seek low-interest loans from Japan, similar to the one provided for bullet train which is to connect Mumbai with Ahmedabad.
Meanwhile, another Kochi-based firm, Sea Bird Seaplane Pvt Ltd that recently received the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the regulator, also plans to start operations with its two aircraft. The company did not respond to the email sent by DNA Money.
Global Tourism Council chairman Iqbal Mulla said India offers tremendous opportunity for amphibian plane services; the recent developments seem encouraging for the tourism industry.
GAINING WINGS
- Mehair is likely to confine itself initially to Maharashtra before spreading wings to other parts of the country
- Civil aviation ministry is said to be considering including amphibian plane services as part of RCS
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