This article is from page 16 of the 2011-09-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
MOUNTSHANNON can become Clare’s new international aviation hub drawing thousands of people to the mid-west region and eating into Dublin’s dominant position in the lucrative tourism market.
That’s the claim sounded out this week by Harbour Flights Ireland Ltd after being granted an operational license for a commercial seaplane base on the shores of Lough Derg at Mountshannon.
This is the first approved Com- mercial Sea Plane base in Europe and launches not only a new era in aviation history but a welcome development to the tourist industry,” Harbour Flights’ chief executive Emlyn Heapes told The Clare People .
“Failte Ireland and Shannon Development should be supporting this innovated enterprise which has now taken four years to archive this historical landmark in aviation and in tourism development.
“It will enable Lough Derg to become a major and vibrant tourism market leader as its prime location is perfect for sea plane owners to visit from all across Europe and a fantastic scenic introduction to beautiful Mountshannon and Lough Derg.
“Dublin receives half of our annual tourists with the west of Ireland predominately being a day destination. Our intention is to change this perception and make Dublin the day visit while opening up all of the tourist destinations in the west and have them easily accessible by the sea plane.
“Instead of attraction visits being a full day, with the majority of the visitor’s time being spent on a bus, we will shorten this to being under an hour.
“We are looking at opening the west and not only has our concept attracted the support of Failte Ireland, but we have also engrossed Tourism Ireland in the concept who have stated that it is an innovated tourism idea that they will use to promote tourism aboard,” he added.
Up to 45 new jobs are expected to the created by the Mountshannon based company that’s now set to embark on securing licenses for flights between Dublin Bay, Galway, Limerick, Foynes and Cobh.
The National Flight Centre, currently the largest flight training school in Europe, will also be using the Mountshannon base to establish the only European Aviation Safety Association (EASA) approved ‘Floats’ training base in Europe.
“This exciting development will greatly influence tourism revenue and help create a thriving training base that will attract budding pilots from all over Europe,” revealed Mr Heapes.