An historic day in the history of European seaplane aviation on May 18, 2016, as European Coastal Airlines lands at Pescara harbour, ahead of the opening of a seaport in the Italian city this summer.
It is less than two years since the first scheduled seaplane flight in modern European aviation history after European Coastal Airlines touched down in Jelsa on the island of Hvar from Resnik near Split Airport on August 27, 2014, and yesterday saw a little more history, as one of ECA’s popular Twin Otters touched down in the Italian city of Pescara on a demonstration flight ahead of the opening of a full seaport from August 1.
After 15 years of battling Croatian bureaucracy, the speed with which things have started to come together in Italy has been striking for the Croatian aviation company. ECA has already been operating flights from downtown Split and Pula to the airports of Ancona and Pescara as a temporary measure to expand, but the establishment of seaports is at the core of the business model and will allow passengers more convenient point to point connections.
In contrast to the 15 year battle in Croatia, things in Italy appear to be running much smoother, and it is just three months ago that negotiations with local authorities began on the topic of the seaport. And it is not only Pescara – Ancona too is moving forward with its seaport, one which could be operational even sooner than Pescara.
The contrast with Croatia could not be more stark. Last week a demonstration flight to downtown Dubrovnik had dignitaries from the Abruzzo region on board, and they were visibly excited by the potential offered by this new service. The flight to the Dubrovnik of Gruz was for demonstration purposes only – after four years of discussions with local authorities (compared to three months with the Italians), things seem to be no further forward.
This despite the seaplane operator initially suggesting a location from the authorities which would take up no moorings, but one which was then withdrawn.
Should the Dubrovnik location happen, ECA have said they would fly all year from Dubrovnik to Bari, Brindisi, Pescara and Ancona, as well as introducing flights to Durres in Albania, slowly but surely connecting a region which is not easy to interconnect with currently.
ECA plans to start adding domestic Italian routes from Pescara and Ancona, with locations such as Bari, Brindisi and Venice on the table.
Will the famous Croatian bureaucracy ensure that Croatia misses out on this fantastic opportunity, or is it time to enter the 21st century…
