Apogee Aerospace Secures ₹3,500 Cr Seaplane Export Deal with Australia’s AAI

India-based Apogee Aerospace has signed a strategic collaboration with Australia’s amphibious aircraft maker to build a seaplane ecosystem, placing a ₹3,500 crore order for 15 amphibian aircraft while committing fresh domestic investment in manufacturing and aviation support infrastructure, as per PTI report. 

Order Details and India Investment Plan 

Apogee Aerospace has placed an order for 15 amphibian aircraft with Australia’s Amphibian Aerospace Industries (AAI), with the overall programme valued at about ₹3,500 crore. 

Alongside the aircraft order, the Indian firm will invest ₹500 crore to develop tail-section manufacturing, maintenance and overhaul operations, training and simulation centres, and advanced systems integration capabilities within India. 

These facilities will support amphibian aircraft programmes and future variants, as both partners work toward establishing local industrial capacity. AAI is also planning to set up an aircraft manufacturing and assembly facility in India as part of its long-term expansion roadmap. 

Amphibian aircraft, commonly referred to as seaplanes are capable of operating from both runways and water bodies, making them suitable for remote connectivity, island access and coastal operations. 

Scope Of Strategic Collaboration 

The partnership is structured to build a full amphibian aviation ecosystem in India anchored around AAI’s Albatross 2.0 aircraft platform, a transport-category amphibious plane with capacity of up to 28 seats. 

Under the agreement, Apogee Aerospace will act as AAI’s exclusive authorised representative for the Indian subcontinent in the restricted category segment, focused on defence and government applications.  

The cooperation spans maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), training, simulation, capability development and end-to-end systems integration, including militarised configurations. 

According to the companies, India-based integration facilities will be used to design and deliver indigenised military variants of the Albatross platform for the armed forces and other government users. 

Policy Tailwinds for Seaplane Ecosystem 

The collaboration comes as the government pushes last-mile air connectivity and niche aviation segments such as seaplanes.  

In the Union Budget 2026–27, the Finance Minister proposed incentives for indigenising seaplane manufacturing and announced a dedicated Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme to support seaplane operations. 

This policy backing, combined with defence, tourism and blue-economy use cases, is expected to support early demand for amphibian aircraft platforms in India. 

Read More: Aerospace Part Makers JJG Aero Secures $30 Million Series B Funding from Norwest Venture Partners! 

Conclusion 

With a large aircraft order, local infrastructure investment and defence-focused integration plans, the Apogee-AAI partnership positions amphibian aviation as an emerging specialised segment within India’s broader aerospace growth story. 

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