European Coastal Airlines
| European Coastal Airlines | |
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| IATA code : | WL |
| ICAO code : | ECB |
| Call sign : | COASTAL CLIPPER |
| Founding: | 2000 |
| Operation stopped: | 2016 |
| Seat: | Zagreb |
| Turnstile : | |
| Company form: | doo |
| Management: | Klaus-Dieter Martin ( CEO ) |
| Number of employees: | 85 |
| Fleet size: | 4 (+ 6 orders) |
| Aims: | regional |
| Website: | www.ec-air.eu |
| European Coastal Airlines ceased operations in 2016. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
European Coastal Airlines (short: ECA) was a Croatian airline that exclusively used amphibious aircraft . The company was founded in September 2000 by the Croatian company Obalna Kapitalna Ulaganja doo from Zagreb and Sea Plane Service GmbH from Landsberied . The company's headquarters were in Zagreb .
history
With the first ECA advertising campaign “Save the Goose ” in 2000, ECA opened its flight operations with charter flights with such a machine and an LA-4-200 Buccaneer . The managing director Klaus-Dieter Martin encouraged friends and fellow pilots to take part in order to realize and expand the founding idea of an airline operating on water and on land in Croatia. It took a total of seven years to obtain the operating license. The flights compete with ferry and speedboat connections to the islands.
In August 2002, the daily Slobodna Dalmacija reported that the company had applied for 25 additional licenses to land and take off all over the Croatian Adriatic , including the port of Zadar . According to Croatian law, licenses from the civil aviation authority, the maritime authority and the respective port authorities must be available for seaplane operations.
In July 2010, the Zagreb daily Večernji list reported on ECA expansion plans amounting to 33 million euros. The plan was to build several pontoon bases along the Croatian coast and to expand the facilities at the central hub at the Divulje military base near the city of Split .
In November 2012, ECA won the LEHEL Industry Group from Munich as lead investor for the further development of the airline. LEHEL acquired a 26 percent stake in ECA. A second round of financing was sought, in which further investors as well as Croatian banks and the Republic of Croatia should be involved.
From mid-2013, the line connections were expanded to include the five destinations Split, Dubrovnik , Hvar , Korčula and Zadar . In 2015 the route network was significantly expanded. There are flights to Split (Downtown), Pula , Dubrovnik and Zadar , among others . In 2015 Ancona was added to the route network as the first international destination, with Pescara the second in 2016. There were plans to expand the route network to Zagreb. By 2019, the managing director wanted to have up to 20 aircraft in use and fly to Italy and Montenegro.
Following allegations by previous and current ECA employees of neglecting important maintenance work, flight operations were initially temporarily suspended on August 13, 2016. The Croatian Civil Aviation Authority ordered tests. Klaus-Dieter Martin presented the allegations as an act of revenge by dismissed employees. On August 25, the company was able to resume flight operations at short notice, but had to stop it again from October 4.
fleet
As of November 2013, the European Coastal Airlines fleet consisted of four aircraft:
- 2 De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (seaplane, equipped with double floats in addition to the standard landing gear).
- 1 G-21A Goose (built in 1944, completely overhauled in 2004)
- 1 LA-4-200 Buccaneer
- Orders
- 6 De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the ECA - The Story ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Adventurous and ambitious , NZZ, June 25, 2015
- ↑ Air Taxi brings tourists , Slobodna Dalmacia, August 24, 2002
- ↑ List of Aircraft Operating Certificates, Republic of Croatia ( Memento from April 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Report in the Lista Večernji of July 1, 2010 (Croatian)
- ^ Seaport water landing sites
- ^ Report by Network Corporate Finance
- ^ European Coastal Airlines Planned Time Table. 2013 season flight schedule (in preparation) (PDF; 143 kB)
- ↑ report index.hr
- ^ Seaplane CEO Klaus Dieter Martin Responds to Croatian Media Criticism
- ↑ European Coastal Airlines has suspended seaplane flights for a few days , Radio Dalmatia, August 13, 2016
- ↑ Seaplane airline is no longer allowed to fly aeroTELEGRAPH August 21, 2016
- ↑ Seaplane airline has to cease operations , accessed on November 10, 2016
- ↑ Fleet information ECA
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