Seaplane business delays opening until Easter 2020

Seaplane business delays opening until Easter 2020

The firm – Clear Harbour Airways – had hoped to start operating last summer. But after struggling to obtain a plane, the company pushed the start date back to later this year. It has now delayed the launch again, to next Easter.

‘I think realistically it would be wrong to try to rush a start in autumn this year,’ said company founder Benjamin Hill.

A Twin Otter plane had been his original choice, but Mr Hill said it was now looking at acquiring a Cessna Caravan instead.

These are slightly bigger than the Otter, he said, as well as being more powerful.

Mr Hill came up with the idea of a seaplane service after spending time in Canada, where he came into contact with a company called Harbour Air Seaplanes and gained a background understanding of the sector.

He said that an agreement had already been reached with the governments in Jersey and Guernsey following navigational risk assessments of the islands’ main harbours.

He has also held meetings with commercial and leisure harbour users in both islands and has received a favourable response, said the businessman.

‘I feel now that we are closer than we’ve ever been,’ said Mr Hill.

Harbour Air Seaplanes’ head of flight operations and ground operations has now moved to the Channel Islands to help Mr Hill.

‘We’re now getting some traction across the board,’ he said.

‘Guernsey especially has been very accommodating, from the airport and harbours and the government too.

‘Finance is the crucial element now. We’re in discussions with a number of groups within the Channel Islands, which is important to me because I want this to be a CI-owned airline.’

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