The first facility license for servicing seaplanes on popular Rhodes has been issued for the same-name capital city on the eponymous Dodecanese Island.
Actually operating at least one permanent seaplane route in Greece has been a Sisyphean endeavor for the past several decades, with successive governments announcing various initiatives, legislative changes and even promising funding for infrastructure.
Likewise, a bevy of private companies have entertained the prospect in the past, especially after 2000, with the aim being to link, by air, mainland coastal points and lakes with islands in the Aegean and Ionian without airports.
Currently, one company, Hellenic Seaplanes, appearing to be the nearest to achieving this milestone.
In a press conference on Monday, South Aegean Governor Giorgos Hatzimarkos said the regional government will fund the construction of necessary harbor and onshore infrastructure, with the seaplane berth owned and exploited by the municipal port fund of the southern Dodecanese.
The exact spot announced is near the swimming pool of the Rhodes Yacht Club.
The development brings to 10 the number of water airports now licensed and ready in the country, with another seven locations licensed and under construction. More than two dozen water airports are undergoing the licensing certification, including numerous island destinations.
