Harbourair launches Gozo Malta air link 
 
Harbourair Seaplanes officially launched the seaplane link between Grand Harbour and Mgarr Harbour last week together with a schedule of scenic tours round the Maltese islands.

Departing from the Valletta Waterfront, Harbourair operates a DeHavilland DHC-3 Single Otter seaplane and has a schedule of five daily flights to and from Gozo together with a number of scenic tours. The first flight departs Valletta at 7.50am and the last flight from Mgarr, Gozo is at 6.30pm

The duration of the flight between the two islands, which carries up to 14 passengers, averages 15 minutes and costs Lm12 for a one-way ticket. Scenic tours, aimed at attracting the tourist market especially cruise liner passengers, cost Lm27. Corporate companies are also making use of the scenic tour for clients and staff.

Winston Azzopardi, the local partner of the Canadian company that runs Harbourair Seaplanes, said there has been a great demand for this service and several of the summer flights are already fully booked. “The service in itself as well as the concept of taking off and landing on water has created great interest. In fact, the interest shown to-date by the public in general and by tour operators is very encouraging and if everything goes as planned we hope to expand our services to include Sicily next year.”

Mr Azzopardi added that this service has already proved to be very popular with the cruise-passenger market, as well as business travellers who can cross over to the sister island in a matter of minutes, saving precious time.

The Harbourair seaplane service will be the first air-link with Gozo following the closure of the helicopter service.