From the Limerick Leader newspaper.
By Nick Rabbitts
LIMERICK could be linked to Galway and the Aran Islands by a 30-minute journey if a proposal to build a seaplane terminal at the Clarion Hotel gets permission.
Harbour Air Ireland have this week lodged a planning application with Limerick City Council to install “floating pontoons, (an] access gangway, mooring anchors and associated infrastructure for the berthing of a seaplane” on the opening to the river Shannon in front of the Clarion Hotel.
If the proposals get the go-ahead, the company says a regular sea-boat service will run from the heart of Limerick city, to Foynes, Galway and the Aran Islands.
And unlike the new rail service, or the upcoming motorway to Galway, any journey could link Limerick and the Western Seaboard in just 20 minutes, according to company director Emlyn Heap.
Mr Heap told the Leader how the foyer of the landmark Clarion Hotel would serve as a departure lounge, before people board the sea planes.
“Our whole mission is connectivity. We want to shorten travel times – turning hours into minutes. Seaplane operations are nothing new. There is a very successful operation flying out of the Clyde (in Glasgow] to Loch Lomond, where the journey is complete in 15 minutes.
“My mission here is to have three resorts in this part of the country. The tourists who come to Ireland mainly spend two nights in Dublin and make day trips to the West. My overall dream is to make the West of Ireland the destination, and Dublin the day visit,” Mr Heap said.
The company has been working closely with Margaret O’Shaughnessy of the Foynes flying boat museum.
Mr Heap insisted that the sea-plane voyages would be cost-competitive – “although we are not going to be a Ryanair-type service”.
“What we want to do is align ourselves to taxi and coach firms. Seat costs will be between €40 and €50 one-way, and this gives people the option of experiencing a sea-plane flight. If they cannot afford a return flight, we would partner with coach firms so they offer the return journey,” he said.
“Tourism is down 25 per cent. We have been talking to Tourism Ireland in the UK, and trying to include it as part of a package to include sea plane journeys.”
Harbour Air Ireland propose to build a network of seaplane terminals linking Ireland’s major towns and cities.
According to plans lodged with Clare County Council for a sea-plane terminal in Mountshannon, the firm wants to build bases in Belfast, Dubln, Athlone, Galway, Nenagh and Cork, with its main base in the Co Clare resort.
However, the plans to land a seaplane on Lough Derg have attracted local opposition including the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board. Fishermen in Lough Derg have formed an umbrella group expressing their opposition to the proposals.
A seaplane similar to what will be used