Thursday, September 05, 2013

Seaplane service proposed for Galway Harbour

Test flights have taken place for a proposed seaplane service operating out of Galway Harbour.

The Harbour Flights company began commercial operations two months ago from a base at Mountshannon in Co Clare.

It offers scenic flights over Lough Derg and hopes to expand its operations to the west coast next year.

Harbour Flights Chief Executive Emlyn Heaps said today's test flight into and out of Galway went "fantastically well".

Any service would have to be regulated by the Irish Aviation Authority.

Navigation, radio and safety checks were conducted after the plane touched down and taxied around the harbour area today.

Harbour Flights hopes to construct a pontoon in Galway and offer scenic flights around the region next year.

Mr Heaps says the possibility of providing a service to the Aran Islands was being examined and that the eventual aim was to offer Galway - Dublin seaplane flights.

Today's test involved a Cessna 206 craft.

The checks at the harbour come almost 80 years after Galway was considered as the base for PAN-AM transatlantic flights.

In October 1933, Charles Lindbergh visited the city as part of his search for a suitable seaplane base.

Original Article:   http://www.rte.ie