Seawings is an experiential

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

tour operator A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes lodging, accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holi ...

based in Dubai,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. The company was established in August 2007 and provides scenic aerial experiences, sightseeing tours and private seaplane charters to destinations in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...

Fujairah Fujairah City () is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Em ...

and

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

, Oman. Its services include scenic flights, customized excursions, golf, day trips, short sightseeing flights, corporate packages and exclusive aircraft charters to over 25 destinations within the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. Seawings Beyond is a brand of Seawings launched in 2018, offering day and overnight excursions and holidays by private seaplane to fuse scenic flights with luxury experiences to the mountains, beaches and desert island reserves like

Sir Bani Yas Sir Bani Yas () is a natural island located southwest of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It lies offshore from Jebel Dhanna, which serves as a crossing point to other islands such as Dalma. Sir Bani Yas is from north to s ...

Island and Zaya Nurai Island.

Operating base and fleet

Seawings fleet consists of five

Cessna 208 Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

s, each of which seat 9 guests and a pilot. They take off from multiple operating sites in the

and

including

Port Rashid Mina Rashid (; ), also referred to as Port Rashid, is a man-made cruise terminal in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was Dubai's first commercial port; in 2018 cargo operations moved to Jebel Ali Port. It is a seafront coastal destination, touris ...

, with other operational locations in

Jebel Ali Jebel Ali () is a port town south-west of Dubai. The Jebel Ali Port is located there. Al Maktoum International Airport has been constructed just outside the port area. Jebel Ali is connected to Dubai via the UAE Exchange (formerly Jebel Al ...

Dubai Creek Dubai Creek () is a natural Seawater, saltwater creek (tidal), creek in Dubai. It extends about inwards and forms a natural port that has traditionally been used for trade and transport. The creek ranges from in width while the average depth ...

, Yas Marina and Marjan Island. The Seawings seaplane services and maintenance are operated and managed by Jet Ops FZE, a Dubai-based company and holder of a UAE

air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...

. Jet-Ops FZE is owned by Air Charter International Arabia LTD, a leading aviation management company providing

aircraft leasing Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide ...

, aircraft management and charter services. Air Charter International Arabia LTD has been operating from

since 1994. Seawings Seaplane

History of seaplanes in Dubai

Seaplanes have always celebrated the pinnacle of luxury travel. In the 1930s, the flying boats resembled a gentleman's club in the sky. Passengers would be accommodated in a club type cabin and would always be dressed for the occasion. Rising early each morning they would join their flying boat for each sector of their long journey. Each night would be spent in an exotic location from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and thence to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Aviation began in

in 1937, when the first

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

flying boat, operating a weekly service between the UK and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, landed on the

. From 1940 to 1950, the

Horseshoe Route The Horseshoe route was a flying boat route between Sydney, Australia, and Durban, South Africa, via Singapore, Calcutta and Cairo during World War II. Mail could then be sent by sea between South Africa and Britain. Using Short Empire C Class ...

from

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

via the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

was established. By the end of 1944,

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

(BOAC) was operating 8 flying boats a week. January 1947 saw the last of the ‘C’ class,

Short Empire The Short Empire was a medium-range four-engined monoplane flying boat, designed and developed by Short Brothers during the 1930s to meet the requirements of the growing commercial airline sector, with a particular emphasis upon its usefulness ...

flying boats operating the Horseshoe route through

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Kallia (Dead Sea), Habbaniya (Iraq), Basra,

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Jiwani Jiwani (Urdu, ) is a town and commercial port located on the Gulf of Oman in the Gwadar District of the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The town has a population of 25,332 and is expected to become a major commercial centre in concert with the d ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

References

{{Emirates of the United Arab Emirates Companies based in Dubai Seaplane operators Tourism in Dubai

Operating base and fleet

History of seaplanes in Dubai

See also

References