The seaplanes of European Costal Airlines (ECA), which had to urgently cease operations this August, raising significant public concern due to safety doubts, are back on standby as of this Monday.
At European Costal Airlines, which has an office in Kaštel Štafilić near Split, they stated on Tuesday, September 27, that flights from Split to Pula have been suspended for operational reasons and that they hope everything will be sorted out by the end of the week and that they will resume flying. However, they could not definitively say whether flights could be booked for Thursday or Friday. The same information regarding the suspension of flights was provided on Tuesday in Pula, where tickets for the seaplane flying to Split are sold. There, they were a bit more skeptical about the information that flights would resume in just three days. Interestingly, throughout this time, tickets for the Split – Pula – Split seaplane can be normally reserved on ECA’s website, even on days when the seaplane, according to office information, clearly does not fly.
Official inquiries, emails sent to both addresses, the information office, and the sales office at ECA have gone unanswered, making it difficult to ascertain the details and exact reason for their flight suspension. A similar argument for the cessation of flights was made by this private carrier this summer, specifically on August 13, when it was announced that they had to suspend flights. Only after information raised concerns about the safety of their seaplanes did ECA state that it was merely a matter of sorting out paperwork, which would soon be resolved.
The Croatian Civil Aviation Agency announced on August 13 that based on an inspection conducted from August 10 to 12, 2016, at European Coastal Airlines, ‘due to identified deficiencies, measures were taken to ensure compliance with regulations, which include the temporary grounding of aircraft.’
A few days later, ECA’s CEO Klaus-Dieter Martin issued a statement indicating that as of August 27, they would resume flights on the Split – Mali Lošinj – Pula and Pula – Novalja – Split routes, as only that one of their aircraft would be approved for flight again since its paperwork had been checked and reviewed twice. – We hope that the other three seaplanes will soon be in operation – the director added at that time, emphasizing that they do not sell tickets for those routes until they are sure they are ready for use. That part of his statement could be ‘translated’ to mean that the seaplane on the Split – Pula – Split route was deemed safe for operation, while the other three are still pending.
Exactly one month after being reintroduced to service, the seaplane on the Split – Pula – Split route is evidently again under ‘observation.’
European Costal Airlines: Seaplanes Are Not Flying Again!
