29 November 2006
Loch Lomond Seaplanes is to start the UK’s first commercial seaplane service for 50 years. Flying from Glasgow’s River Clyde, the company is aiming to open up the west coast of Scotland, with initial targets being Arran, Bute, Oban and Tobermory. The company is also considering services to other centres, including Edinburgh and Skye, in the future.
The plan is to have three aircraft – de Havilland DHC-2 Beavers – by the end of 2008.
The Glasgow base will be ‘a seaplane terminal close to Glasgow’s Science Centre’. Loch Lomond Seaplanes reports that ‘Plans to fly passengers … have been given a green light by the council and the CAA, to create Europe’s only seaplane service operating from a city centre’.
Many other cities in the world have such services – perhaps the most famous being the one from New York’s East River. It’s not just business people who will want to use this service: it will surely become a major tourist attraction, not just for those wanting to use the transport, but also for those who come to see the eight-seaters in operation.
