Seaplanes could be recruited to add a new dimension to Halong Bay
The department’s director, Ha Quang Long, said the Civil
Aviation Administration of Vietnam’s (CAAV) was mulling over the idea of
seaplanes that could be used to offer sightseeing trips over Halong and Bai Tu
Long bays. They would take off from a spot close to where tourist boats anchor
and have the flexibility of landing on the sea close to scenic spots in the bay
if required.
“We think it is a great idea to use seaplanes for the
development of tourism in Quang Ninh,” the director added.
The bays have more than 250 km of coastline and attract
thousands of tourists annually drawn by the natural beauty of the World
Heritage site.
Before the project can fly, it will require approval from
the government and possibly some changes
to some aviation regulations to ensure security or safety regulations are not
compromised when a seaplane is used for commercial passenger travel.
CAAV deputy director, Dinh Viet Thang, admitted seaplanes
would be a new kind of tourism service for Vietnam . They are relatively popular in the US and
Canada where most of the small seaplanes are privately owned and used for
recreational purposes, or as transport to holiday homes built on islands or
next to remote rivers and lakes.
Technically, the project will not use a seaplane, but what
is correctly termed an amphibious aircraft that can use both conventional
runways and water.
In ASEAN seaplanes are commonly used by governments and
military for rescue or reconnaissance. They are fitted with floats and some
have retractable landing gear for use on conventional runways.
An experiment in the use of amphibious aircraft commercially
in Thailand
failed first in Pattaya with a small airline called Yellow Birds and later in
Phuket under different name Tropical Air. The venture used two Grummen G111
Albatross.
If the Vietnam
plan is approved, amphibious aircraft could be operating commercially by late
2014, Halong Bay
The company is most likely to use Cessna Grand Caravan 208B
EX aircraft with a flight crew of two and seating for 12 passengers, that
officials say could be used on both conventional and water runways.
The Grand Caravan was introduced in 1994 and with the
upgrade to the EX model in 2012 the manufacturer says the Grand Caravan EX can
be “modified for amphibious missions with floats provided by the US firm Wipaire
Inc.”.
Actually Vietnam
has its own seaplane, the A41 Factory VNS-41, that has been in service since
2005. It was the first amphibious microlight aircraft made in Vietnam built
by the A41 Factory (officially Aircraft Repairing Company A-41) under the Air
Force and Air Defense Department (Ministry of Defense) based on the Russian
Che-22 “Korvet”.
It can carry two or three passengers with a flight range of
four hours at a maximum height of 3,000 metres. It requires 200 to 300 metres
of space to take off on water and just 50 to 70 metres on land.
The VNS-41 is used by the forestry department, but will also
be marketed for sport, travel and commercial applications in the future.
During January to September this year, tourist arrivals to
Quang Ninh province reached more than 6 million, a year-on-year rise of 10%
including more than 1.8 million foreign tourists, up 20%, with over 2.9 million
tourists staying overnight, up 24%.
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