0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
The government on Monday unveiled plans for a network of water airports designed to improve transport links to Greece's remote islands and regions.The first attempt to establish a seaplane network in Greece started in 2005, 15 licences for water airports throughout the country were issued under new laws and a pilot programme had begun in the Ionian Sea. Seaplane companies pulled out by 2008, however, citing problems with the legislative framework and the lack of a seaplane link to Attica and Athens.The legislative framework was updated in a bill passed by Parliament last April, under which a licence to operate a water airport can be issued within 65 days of submitting a technical dossier to the transport and networks ministry and the shipping and Aegean ministry.Applications have now been submitted on behalf of several ports and harbour funds, including those of Corfu, Patras, Lavrio, Iraklio, Volos, Skyros, Rethymno and Zakynthos. Once permits are given, the port and harbour authorities can then lease the right to operate the water airport to seaplane companies, via a process of tender.
The first licences for the operation of water airports in Greece will be issued on Friday, Deputy Transport, Infrastructure and Networks Minister Michalis Papadopoulos said on Tuesday.Papadopoulos said that the completion of the legislative framework opens the way for the issuance of permits, while the first flights are expected to start in early summer, improving coastal areas connectivity and acting as a growth engine for the islands, with knock-on benefits for the Greek economy.
Author
Topic: Seaplanes service (Read 7659 times)
