Maldivian seaplane lands in Minicoy, a historic first

• A seaplane from the country’s national airline had travelled to Maliku islands on Monday
• India’s Spice Jet had chartered their seaplane for the duration of one month
• India launched its first seaplane operations with assistance from Maldives’ national carrier, back in October

A seaplane of the country’s national carrier, Maldivian, landed in Minicoy island as part of Spice Jet’s efforts to establish a seaplane travel service in neighbouring India.

Maldivian Aero revealed via twitter that one of its seaplanes had travelled to Maliku islands as part of a chartered flight to Ahmedabad on Monday.

Noting that this was a historic moment, Maldivian Aero said that this is the first record of a local airline making a trip to Minicoy.

Maldivian Aero also revealed that Spice Jet had chartered their seaplane for the duration of one month, and that six of their seaplane crew had also travelled to India onboard the flight.

India launched its first seaplane operations with assistance from Maldives’ national carrier, back in October.

Mohamed Rizvee, Managing Director of Island Aviation Pvt. Ltd., which runs Maldivian Aero, said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi choosing to charter a Maldivian seaplane for special diplomatic trips was exclusive proof of the deep mutual respect between the two countries.

Rizvee also highlighted that aside from these charters by Spice Jet, Maldivian had committed technical and logistics assistance in establishing seaplane services in India and that relevant parties were already meeting to host discussions and share their expertise.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated means of seaplane travel in India in conjunction with their National Unity Day in Ahmedabad, Gujrat when the chartered Maldivian seaplane arrived in India to commence seaplane services with six crew members on-board.