This article is from page 10 of the 2012-05-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
EAST Clare people commuting to Limerick City will soon be able to reduce their travel time to just eight minutes following the decision to grant planning permission for Mountshannon company Harbour Flights to operate a seaplane base in Limerick.
This completes Harbour Flights roster of six sea-airports in the region, and represents a major step forward in the Clare company’s bid to establish a commercial seaplane service for tourists and locals in Clare.
While Harbour Flights have now been granted permission to operate six sea-airports on Lough Derg, Galway, Dublin, Cobh, Foynes and Limerick, they are still awaiting final approval from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to operated as a licensed commercial airline. Once this final hurdle is achieved they will be able to begin trading in a matter of days.
According to Emelyn Heaps, CEO of Harbour Flight, the new company has the potential to revolutionise the tourism industry in Clare.
“This is a massive step for us – we have been waiting for 22 months for this decision to come though.
“Our plan is to offer scenic flight from these locations as well as commuter services. We will have you into Limerick from Lough Derg in eight minutes. We will also be able to take people from Lough Derg to Dublin in about 40 minutes,” he said.
“Tourism is going to be our main product – that is why we started this in the first place. At the moment we in Clare have become a day destination for Dublin. People are getting on buses and travelling to the Cliffs of Moher or Bunratty and then back to Dublin again. The concept behind this was to make Dublin the day visit, not Clare.
“We can have people in Dublin from any of our regional airports. So people can enjoy their day in Dublin and then come back here and stay and spend their money is Clare,” added Heaps.