Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT Report on current strength and weaknesses of existing seaplane/ amphibian transport system as well as future opportunities Authors Giangi Gobbi, Ladislav Smrcek, Roderick Galbraith University of Glasgow Benedikt Mohr, Joachim Schömann, Institute of Aerospace Systems Technische Universität München Glasgow, UK Garching, Germany Keeper of Document Author or Coauthor Work Package(s) WP4 Status Draft Identification Programme, Project ID FP7-AAT-2007-RTD1 Project Title: FUture SEaplane TRAffic (FUSETRA) Version: 1.1 File name: FUSETRA_D41_SWOT_v01.doc FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 1 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT 27.06.2011 Aerospace Engineering Glasgow University James Watt South Building Glasgow G12 8QQ UK Author: Giangi Gobbi Phone: +44.(0)141.330.7268 Fax: +44.(0)141.330.4885 [email protected] www.fusetra.eu FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 2 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT Control Page This version supersedes all previous versions of this document. Version Date Author(s) Pages Reason 1.0 27/6/2011 Giangi Gobbi 46 Initial write/editing FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 3 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT Contents List of tables ............................................................................................................... 6 List of figures .............................................................................................................. 6 Glossary ..................................................................................................................... 7 1 Objectives ............................................................................................................ 8 2 Seaplane Operations ........................................................................................... 9 3 General Information about Seaplane Operators .................................................. 9 3.1 Participants‟ origin ........................................................................................ 9 3.2 Participants‟ field of service ........................................................................ 10 4 Seaplane operations .......................................................................................... 12 4.1 Aircraft in operation .................................................................................... 12 4.2 Operational key figures .............................................................................. 14 4.3 Connections and flight plans ...................................................................... 16 5 Certification ....................................................................................................... 18 5.1 Pilots .......................................................................................................... 18 5.2 Operators ................................................................................................... 19 6 Infrastructure and Aircraft .................................................................................. 21 6.1 Seaport Management ................................................................................. 21 6.2 Seaport License & Seaport Approval ......................................................... 22 6.3 Configuration of seaside landing site .......................................................... 22 6.4 Maintenance concept ................................................................................. 22 6.5 Connectivity of seaports to landside infrastructure ..................................... 23 6.6 Restrictions because of availability of suitable aircraft ............................... 23 6.7 Future Aircraft Requirements ..................................................................... 24 6.8 Main Problems in Seaplane Aviation .......................................................... 25 7 Aspects of Seaplane Operations in Europe ....................................................... 26 7.1 Situation in the UK ...................................................................................... 27 7.2 Government Regulation and Control .......................................................... 29 8 Stakeholders involved in Seaplane Operations ................................................. 30 8.1 Europe ........................................................................................................ 30 FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 4 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT 9 SWOT analysis of existing seaplane operations ............................................... 33 9.1 Strengths .................................................................................................... 34 9.1.1 Environment (for cleaner and quieter world) ....................................... 34 9.1.2 Society‟s needs ................................................................................... 36 9.2 Weaknesses ............................................................................................... 37 9.3 Opportunities .............................................................................................. 37 9.4 Threats ....................................................................................................... 40 10 Summary ....................................................................................................... 42 11 References .................................................................................................... 45 FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 5 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT List of tables Table 1 Seaport Licensing Institutions ...................................................................... 22 Table 2 Landing site installations .............................................................................. 22 Table 3 Landside connectivity .................................................................................. 23 Table 4 Payload requirements .................................................................................. 24 Table 5 Range requirements .................................................................................... 25 Table 6 Main problems of seaplane operators .......................................................... 26 Table 7 Noise levels for various operations .............................................................. 36 List of figures Figure 1: Origin of survey participants ...................................................................... 10 Figure 2: Origin of European survey participants ...................................................... 10 Figure 3: Participants' year of foundation ................................................................. 11 Figure 4: Type of servies offered by participants ...................................................... 12 Figure 5: Aircraft in Operation 2010 .......................................................................... 12 Figure 6: Size of aircraft in operation 2010 ............................................................... 13 Figure 7: Undercarriage types .................................................................................. 13 Figure 8: Fleet of operating carriers 2010 ................................................................. 14 Figure 9: Flights per year and carrier ........................................................................ 15 Figure 10: Average load factor ................................................................................. 15 Figure 11: Average flight time ................................................................................... 16 Figure 12: Average flight range ................................................................................ 16 Figure 13: Participants' times of operation and schedule structure........................... 17 Figure 14: Purpose of flight ....................................................................................... 18 Figure 15: Connection type ....................................................................................... 18 Figure 16: Availability of pilots .................................................................................. 19 Figure 17: Certification process for new seaplane operators .................................... 20 Figure 18: Problems with residents or environmental authorities ............................. 21 Figure 19 Maintenance: Inhouse or external? .......................................................... 23 Figure 20 Restrictions by available aircraft ............................................................... 24 Figure 21 Percentage change of participation of seaplane and amphibian aircraft on the total number of registered aircraft in UK [9] ........................................................ 28 Figure 22 Numbers of registered seaplanes and imphibious in UK (1985-2011), [9] 29 FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 6 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT Glossary AAIB Air Accidents Investigation Branch FUSETRA Future Seaplane Traffic EU European Union GPS Global Positioning System MBTE Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether Strengths, Weaknesses, SWOT Opportunities, and Threats UK United Kingdom US United States of America USACE US Army Corps of Engineers VFR Visual Flight Rules FUSETRA – Future Seaplane Traffic 7 Version 1.0 Future Seaplane Transport System - SWOT 1 Objectives Seaplanes have been in the market for over 80 years. However, advance modifications or new designs have not