Bhubaneswar: No frills carrier SpiceJet is considering possibility of rolling out “Sea Plane” operation on three routes in Odisha in the near future.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary SpiceJet has proposed to connect three routes namely Bhubaneswar to Puri via Chilika Lake and back to Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar to Chandipur via Bhitarkanika National Park and back to Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar to Hirakud Dam and back to Bhubaneswar that can have utmost commercial and tourism importance.
“We are open to revision, discussion and feasibility of routes based on local requirement, profitability and tourism potential in the region,” said Shantanu Kalita, Advisor to the Chairman, SpiceJet Limited in the letter.
“We are already charting out a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on our own to assess the feasibilities, infrastructure-development, capacity-building and policy-level implementation to explore the potential of introducing ‘Sea Plane’ operations in India, with special focus given to the State of Odisha,” he added.
In response to the aircraft carrier’s proposal the General Administration & Public Grievance department has written to the Director, Tourism to coordinate the matter with the former and Airport Authority of India (AAI) to explore the possibility of introducing Sea Plane connectivity in the State.
It may be noted here that a multi-disciplinary team led by Sangeeta Mahay, General Manager (Arch) of the AAI have already conducted a pre-feasibility study for water aerodrome operations in Chilika Lake on June 14 and 15 last as we reported here.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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