New Greek airline to shuttle tourists around islands
Hellenic Seaplanes plans to change the traditional meaning of island hopping by launching a service that allows tourists to hop between Greece's islands by seaplane.
The Greek airline hopes to create affordable flights and offer 100 connections by 2016, according to the Daily Mail.
The introduction of seaplanes in Greece will mean island hoppers will no longer have to endure long journeys, unpredictable ferry timetables and sea sickness.
The company, which is based in Athens and was founded in May 2013, recently got the go ahead to build a seaplane waterway at the port of Volos on the mainland, reports the Daily Mail.
The airline hopes that Crete, Skyros and Pelion will be serviceable by air next May.
Lefkas, Egkremnoi, Kathisma and Porto Katsiki will also be linked by seaplane.
Because its fleet - currently comprised of 12-seater Dornier Seastar and 19-seat Twin Otter amphibious aircraft - can land on water, the service will be able to serve smaller islands currently unconnected by air, without the need for costly infrastructure, CNN reports.
Boss Nikolas Charalambous said: 'The creation of a waterways network and development of seaplane transport in Greece is now a fact and we will try to cover all destinations.
'The Maldives and Virgin Islands have shown how seaplanes can contribute to the growth of tourism and we have more islands, a longer coastline and are close to large European tourist markets.'
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