Loch Lomond Seaplanes

{{Infobox airline

|airline = Loch Lomond Seaplanes

|logo =

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|fleet_size = 1

|destinations = 2

|IATA = -

|ICAO = -

|callsign = -

|parent =

|company_slogan =

|founded = 2003

|ceased = 2025

|headquarters = Helensburgh, Scotland, UK

|key_people =

|hubs = Loch Lomond

|secondary_hubs =

|focus_cities =

|frequent_flyer =

|lounge =

|alliance =

|website = {{URL|https://www.lochlomondseaplanes.com}}

}}

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Loch Lomond Seaplanes was an airline based in Helensburgh, Scotland. After receiving approval from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority and Clydeport to launch services from Glasgow Seaplane Terminal, by Glasgow's Science Centre on the River Clyde in Glasgow city centre,Airliner World, February 2007 its maiden scheduled service from Glasgow to Oban began in August 2007, making it Europe's first city centre seaplane service.[http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=Visit%20Travel&vxClipId=1380_SMG1038&vxBitrate=300 stv News report on Clyde service launch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024112441/http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=Visit%20Travel&vxClipId=1380_SMG1038&vxBitrate=300 |date=24 October 2007 }} It is also Scotland and the United Kingdom's first commercial seaplane service.[http://www.lochlomondseaplanes.com/ Loch Lomond Seaplanes website] retrieved 3 February 2007 Loch Lomond Seaplanes Ltd holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type B Operating Licence. It is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with fewer than 20 seats and/or weighing less than 10 tonnes.[http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=183&pagetype=90&pageid=508 UK CAA - Operating Licence Holders] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720120740/http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=183&pagetype=90&pageid=508 |date=20 July 2006 }} It also has a base outside a hotel, Cameron House, Loch Lomond, from which comes the operator's name.

Their aircraft have featured on British television several times, including on the BBC's Countryfile, ITV's Emmerdale and NBC's Running Wild, starring Bear Grylls and Ben Stiller.

The company ceased trading on 11 April 2025.{{cite news |url=https://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/news/25084359.loch-lomond-seaplanes-mysteriously-ceases-trading/ |title=Loch Lomond Seaplanes mysteriously 'ceases trading' |first=Tempany |last=Grace |work=Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter |date=11 April 2025 |access-date=12 April 2025}} As of 19 April 2025, no customers have been contacted regarding refunds for previously purchased tickets. All social media platforms relating to the company and phone lines have been disabled.

History

Loch Lomond Seaplanes began operations in April 2004 with a new amphibious Cessna T206H, registration G-OLLS. It is licensed as an airline under the UK Civil Aviation Authority with Air Operator's Certificate 2252. The first base was inside the newly formed Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Initially flights were only for tourist/pleasure purposes, but in 2007 scheduled flights were established. Loch Lomond Seaplanes took delivery of the UK's first Amphibious Cessna 208 Caravan, registration G-MDJE, in June 2007. In August 2007, Stewart Stevenson MSP, the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, opened the new £125,000 Loch Lomond Seaplanes' Glasgow Seaplane Terminal on the River Clyde beside the Glasgow Science Centre on Pacific Quay. The company was then able to launch its first scheduled service to Oban Bay.

Loch Lomond Seaplanes operated a short-lived scheduled passenger service in 2024 from Cameron House pier on Loch Lomond to the Craighouse ferry terminal on the Isle of Jura. The pier at Craighouse was upgraded by Argyll and Bute Council in order to accept seaplanes. The work involved extending the pier and adding floating pontoons. The Isle of Jura service was documented by YouTuber Worldwide Dom, with the service operating up to three times a day, allowing day trips to the island, which is famous for the Isle of Jura Distillery. Prior to this, the island had seen no scheduled flight services, as the island lacks an airport.

The airline operated tour and charter flights out of Loch Lomond, until they unexpectedly ceased trading on 11 April 2025.{{cite news |url=https://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/news/25084359.loch-lomond-seaplanes-mysteriously-ceases-trading/ |title=Loch Lomond Seaplanes mysteriously 'ceases trading' |first=Tempany |last=Grace |work=Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter |date=11 April 2025 |access-date=12 April 2025}}

Fleet

The Loch Lomond Seaplanes fleet includes the following aircraft (as of January 2018):{{cite web |url=http://www.lochlomondseaplanes.com/information/our-aircraft.html |access-date=26 January 2018|title=The Cessna 208 Caravan Amphibian}}

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|+ Loch Lomond Seaplanes fleet

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!Aircraft

!Total

!Passengers

!Notes

Cessna 208 Caravan

|style="text-align:center" |1

|style="text-align:center" |9

Total

|style="text-align:center" |1