Shoreline Aviation was a Part 135 charter air carrier based at the

Tweed New Haven Airport Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport is a public airport located three miles southeast of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven, in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective Sep 15, 2016. The a ...

in New Haven, Connecticut. It operated a fleet of ten

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 ...

turboprop seaplanes. Shoreline operated on-demand air charter year-round in the northeast with a seasonal shift of resources to South Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean in the winter.

History

Shoreline Aviation, Inc. was founded in April 1980 by John Kelly and began operations at the former

Griswold Airport Griswold Airport was a public airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Madison, Connecticut, Madison, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It was privately owned by Griswold ...

Madison, Connecticut Madison is a New England town, town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The town is part of the South ...

. In 1981 the company began operating their first seaplanes. In 1987 Shoreline Aviation became the first commercial operator of the Cessna Caravan Amphibian. They have operated bases at many of Connecticut's airports and have recently returned their headquarters to Tweed New Haven Airport. Shoreline Aviation was one of the first to enter and establish the market for a seaplane connection between lower Manhattan and the Hamptons. Shoreline has been called "The daddy of all seaplane companies" by the ''New York Business Journal''. The

New York Skyports Seaplane Base New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane base is a seaplane base in the East River VFR corridor in New York City, located at the foot of 23rd Street (Manhattan), East 23rd Street between Waterside Plaza and Stuyvesant Cove Park. The seaplane base opened ...

is now significantly busier with the entry of new companies such as Fly The Whale and, later, Blade Aqua. In addition to operating scheduled shuttle flights between New York City's East River and East Hampton, Shoreline Aviation offers land and sea-based charters. In 2016 Shoreline announced it would begin offering flights from its base in New Haven to the East River marketed as "The Weekend New Yorker" service running seasonally June through Labor day. Shoreline ceased operations on April 1, 2020.

Cape Air Hyannis Air Service Inc., operating as Cape Air, is an airline headquartered at Cape Cod Gateway Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States. It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, the Caribbean and Eastern Montana. ...

bought most of the assets, then promptly liquidated personal and aircraft, deciding to no longer pursue seaplanes or the New York to Boston route. Former Shoreline employees and investors then purchased Fly the Whale to continue operations, and now operate out of Shoreline’s hangar and facilities.

Fleet

Most of Shoreline's Caravan fleet have been retrofitted with the Blackhawk Modifications Inc. XP140 engine conversion. This modification replaces the Caravan's stock 675 horsepower PT6a-114a engine with an 867-horsepower PT6a-140a engine. Blackhawk featured Shoreline in a video demonstrating their performance advantages.

Destinations

Charter Destinations

Shoreline offered on-demand charters to various airports and harbors throughout the Northeast and seasonally in South Florida, The Bahamas, and the Caribbean.

Summer Shuttle Flight Destinations

- East Hampton, NY (HTO) - East Hampton Airport - Montauk, NY (MTP) - Montauk Airport -

New Haven, CT New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

(HVN) -

(Home Base) -

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

(6N7) - New York Skyport Seaplane Base - Shelter Island, NY - Sunset Beach -

Provincetown, MA Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pro ...

Provincetown Municipal Airport Provincetown Municipal Airport is a public airport located at the end of Cape Cod, two miles (3 km) northwest of the central business district of Provincetown, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. This airport is operated by ...

- Fire Island, NY - The Pines at Fire Island

Winter Shuttle Flight Destinations (Shoreline Caribbean)

- St. Croix, USVI (STX) - Henry E. Rohlsen Airport - St.Thomas, USVI (STT) -

Cyril E. King Airport Cyril E. King Airport is a public airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district in the town of Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, St ...

- Virgin Gorda, BVI - Off Airport: North Sound

References

{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct charter airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1980 Airlines disestablished in 2020 Seaplane operators Airlines based in Connecticut