Scots seaplane operator to launch English route

Passenger seaplane services are set to return to England for the first time in several decades after Loch Lomond Seaplanes extended its services.

Loch Lomond Seaplanes is set to launch services in Essex. Picture: Robert Perry

The Helensburgh-based firm plans to run an amphibious aircraft between small airports in London and the Home Counties to the waters surrounding the Osea Island resort in the Blackwater Estuary, Essex.

David West, managing director and chief pilot of Loch Lomond Seaplanes, claimed the flights would take people “back to the romantic days of flying”. He said tickets would be available at about £89 each, with services planned to start in May.

West hopes to eventually gain permission from the aviation regulator and the authorities governing the River Thames to allow flights to take off and land from water in London.

Loch Lomond Seaplanes has operated flights across western Scotland since 2004 and claims to run Europe’s longest established scheduled seaplane service.