AirSea Lines

AirSea Lines was an airline based in Gouvia, Corfu, Greece. It was the first scheduled services seaplane operator in Greece in recent years. Its main base was Gouvia Marina ^[1] The airline ceased operations in 2008, citing bureaucratic and infrastructure hurdles. The airline has since started to resurface as its website says.

History

The airline started operations in Greece on 21 September 2004, using two de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, with a service from Corfu to Paxi. It was a Greek owned company, using the knowledge and expertise of Harbour Air of Canada, the largest seaplane operator in the world.

On 7 November 2006 an AirSea Lines Twin Otter seaplane landed at Royal Victoria Docks on the River Thames, London, at the end of a proving flight testing the feasibility of seaplane operations from the river. The company stated it was studying the possibility of domestic passenger flights from lakes, rivers and harbours across the United Kingdom, and envisaged up to 50 AirSea Lines seaplanes operating in the UK in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[1][2]

In 2007 AirSea Lines expanded its network into the Aegean from Attica, using the port of Lavrio (instead of the preferred location of Piraeus) citing insufficient infrastructure at Piraeus for seaplane operations. The expansion to the Aegean Sea was unsuccessful which the airline attributed to infrastructural hurdles that prevented them from basing their aircraft at Piraeus. The company was forced to retreat back to its routes in the Ionian Sea.^[3]

In April 2008 it was announced that the airline will be ceasing operations altogether, citing bureaucratic hurdles. The airline affirmed that it was impaired by incoherent regulations between the Civil Aviation Authority (which regulates civil aviation) and the Merchant Marine Ministry (which regulates commercial shipping). The airline blames slow bureaucratic procedures that did not resolve this problem in time, rendering AirSea Lines a loss-making venture.^[3][4]

As of 2009, one of AirSea Lines' aircraft is flying for Harbour Air Malta, others are in maintenance or for sale, and the company's website is now defunct.

While it is currently unknown if AirSea Lines will be operating in the future, the airline opened the door for other seaplane carriers, notably ArGo Airways^[5] which now operates between Thessaloniki and the Sporades Islands in the Aegean.

AirSea Lines also has operating under the name Pegasus Aviation.^[6]

Destinations

As of October 2008 AirSea Lines operated services to the following scheduled destinations:^[1]

 Italy

• Brindisi

 Greece

• Corfu
• Paxi
• Ioannina
• Ithacae
• Patras

From May 2010 AirSea Lines will also operate in Kefalonia, Greece in a new route

• Poros, Kefalonia, Greece -> Patras, Greece

Fleet

As of August 2006 the AirSea fleet included:^[7]

• 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AirSea Lines.

• AirSea Lines
• Greek Island Seaplane Hopping - Travel Daily News, 14 September 2004

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