Services never got off the ground – or rather, the water – but how cool would it have been to fly by modern seaplane from Hong Kong to Macau or other cities in the Pearl River Delta? In 2008, the South China Morning Post ran a story about Waterfront Air, “a firm founded by Canadian entrepreneur Michael Agopsowicz [with] plans to operate a scheduled seaplane service between a new Kai Tak Waterfront Aerodrome and the Pak On ferry terminal near Macau’s Cotai Strip”. “The company intends to use a fleet of 18-seater DHC-6 Twin Otter floatplanes for the flights, which would take about 20 minutes,” read the article. “The Tourism Commission and the Tourism Board have given their backing to the proposal because it would enhance Hong Kong’s appeal as a city with diversity and fun. But the project first needs to pass an environmental-impact assessment.” Waterfront Air was still planning to fly between Hong Kong and Macau in 2013, when Australian entrepreneur Peter de Kantzow, a co-founder of the start-up, told Fortune magazine, “I just see a really great opportunity here.” (De Kantzow’s father, Sydney de Kantzow, knew a thing or two about starting up an airline, having co-founded Cathay Pacific Airways – a company that itself began with a seaplane service between Hong Kong and Macau). From war shrine to gulag memorial, ‘dark’ tourist sites and why they matter Great opportunity or not, Waterfront Air appears to have sunk without trace, and the promise of a new seaplane service between the 852 and the 853 looks highly unlikely now the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge offers an alternative to the ferries and helicopters. Seaplane enthusiasts may have better luck in Thailand, where authorities are looking to give an upmarket twist to its tourism offerings – or copy the Maldives, if you’re cynical. Some time this year, according to an article by news service dpa, German entrepreneur Dennis Keller, co-founder of Siam Seaplane, plans to begin flying passengers around the Gulf of Thailand. “They are to depart from one of Bangkok’s two airports and land at Ko Tao or Ko Kood in the turquoise sea. Tourists then only need a couple of minutes to reach the shore by boat,” according to dpa. “The Cessna Caravan amphibious seaplanes will fly directly to Jomtien near the seaside resort of Pattaya, to the seaside resort of Hua Hin and to the Samui archipelago, among other spots.” From a nightclub to a one-of-a-kind villa, Bali’s jetliner conversions Longer-term plans include a seaplane hub on Phuket, but flights are unlikely to ever be longer than 90 minutes: “One factor hindering longer journeys is that there are no toilets on board for the maximum of eight passengers.” It is anticipated that tickets will be priced at between 5,000 baht (US$150) and 15,000 baht, according to dpa, and passengers will be able to book online or from their hotels. “For us, [the Covid-19 shutdown in global tourism] turned out to be a great opportunity,” said Keller, who co-founded Siam Seaplane in October 2019. “The government authorities saw that they had to do something differently after the pandemic, and Thailand had to distinguish itself from neighbouring countries in order to revive tourism.” Major Australian cities may be dual-named with Aboriginal names Narrm and Warrane are not names commonly seen on the departure boards at international airports – but they may be one day soon. According to an article on the Traveller website, a new initiative from Tourism Australia may see major cities and tourism hotspots across the country follow Uluru (Ayers Rock) and become better known by their Indigenous names. “We will be dual-naming our cities and other select locations, using the current term alongside the traditional Aboriginal name,” Tourism Australia’s managing director, Phillipa Harrison, is quoted as saying. Some other names have already been reclaimed – Queensland’s Fraser Island in 2021 became K’gari (pronounced “Gurri”, meaning “paradise”), for instance – but this will be an innovation for metropolises such as Melbourne and Sydney – known as Narrm and Warrane, respectively, before the Brits started flattering their bigwigs with personalised cities.