The first ever seaplane company launched in Saudia Arabia, Fly Red Sea, has celebrated the take-off of its first seaplane flight.
A subsidiary of Red Sea Global, described as ‘the visionary company behind some of the world’s most ambitious development ventures, including luxury regenerative tourism destinations such as The Red Sea and Amaala,’ Fly Red Sea is the first seaplane company launched in the kingdom.
It operates a fleet of four Cessna Caravan 208 seaplanes, each equipped with luxury interiors, capable of transporting up to nine guests for scenic tours or six passengers (and their luggage) for transfers to water-based resorts.
In line with Fly Red Sea’s sustainability ambitions, its fleet of seaplanes are committed to using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from day one of operations. As well as exploring the possibility of using fully-electric seaplanes, the company is also ‘continuing to work closely’ with UK-based ZeroAvia to trial retrofitting its aircraft with hydrogen-electric propulsion technology.
“Our goal was to create a company that would allow us to maintain high standards across every guest touchpoint,” explained John Pagano, Group CEO of Red Sea Global. Describing the requirement to “prioritize giving skilled, rewarding career opportunities to the Saudi people,” he also highlighted the ambition for a “platform to explore technologies to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon footprint”.
Red Sea International Airport, which is operational as of last month, has a dedicated seaplane runway running in parallel to the main terminal. The airport will eventually encompass a dedicated seaplane terminal to serve the 50 resorts and more than 1,000 residential properties across the 22 islands and six inland sites of the complex.
Source: Pilot