Q & A
Q & A
Chocks away
Multiple tourism award winner Sydney Seaplanes has launched its new ‘ Empire Lounge ’ in Rose Bay . CIM spoke with Sydney Seaplanes CEO Aaron Shaw about the venue which offers a new level of luxury for those taking to the skies and new opportunities for events .
Q : How long was the planning for the new venue ?
A : About four years . As the entire building is over Sydney Harbour the development application process was quite arduous and complex . The biggest challenge was the balancing act between Woollahra Council and NSW Maritime . The council were against the proposal and lobbied NSW Maritime strongly to refuse the proposed development . Fortunately NSW Maritime , being a state bureaucracy , were able to see the benefit of the development to tourism and transport infrastructure to Sydney as a whole , rather than getting bogged down in very minor local issues . It is a huge improvement on the previous facility on the site and has proved very popular with locals and tourists alike .
Q : How many can you get up in the air in a day , and will the new Empire Lounge boost that capacity ?
A : We can carry approximately 250-280 passengers per day on scenic flights . A typical busy summer day involves a mix of scenic flights and flight and lunch packages , making total passenger numbers on these days around 200 . The Empire Lounge has increased demand for our flight services , so this coming summer we will be looking for more aircraft to boost capacity . We like to refer to the Empire Lounge as the world ’ s best airport lounge . It is fully licensed , with great food options available all day and a purpose built seafood bar open daily from midday . The lounge also features a museum commemorating the flying boats that used Rose Bay as a flying boat base from the 1930s to the 1970s .
Q : Do you have packages in place that include all F & B and flights ?
A : Yes we do . We have introduced a fantastic flight and seafood platter package . This involves customers being taken on the beautiful Sydney Highlights scenic flight , on landing a stunning seafood platter and two glasses of champagne are waiting for the passengers back in the lounge . This is proving to be a very popular package and is all produced at our purpose built seafood bar overlooking Rose Bay .
Q : Where do the planes go , and what is the most popular itinerary ?
A : We specialise in offering flights to stunning destinations around the Sydney area . Very popular are flights to Jonah ’ s at Whale Beach or the Cottage Point Inn and Berowra Waters Inn in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park . A very popular flight package for proposals is the Romantic Picnic which features flights from Rose Bay to a secluded beach in the Ku-Ring- Gai Chase National Park . Jonah ’ s at Whale Beach is also a fantastic destination to celebrate a special occasion , with its award winning restaurant and accommodation overlooking Whale Beach .
Q : Are you working to get more international incentive group business ?
A : We have worked with Business Events Australia and other organisations to promote Sydney and our business to the incentive group market . We have noticed a significant increase over the last two years in this sector , particularly from emerging markets like India .
Q : Is there room to grow the fleet at all if numbers pick up ?
A : Absolutely , we can grow the fleet to meet increased demand and expect to do so for the upcoming 2017 / 2018 summer season . Even when you ’ re doing it well , it ’ s still a tough business . For instance , we ’ re currently looking into negotiating a better rate for fuel , as that ’ s a high cost . We recently implemented better refuelling infrastructure , so we ’ re now self-sufficient . It ’ s a costly investment but we ’ re hoping it works out better for us down the track .
Q : Do you partner with other must-do Sydney experiences ?
A : We have just launched a combination package with BridgeClimb Sydney . We also work with Harbour Jet ( jet boats ) for specific incentive groups .
28 Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 3 , 2017 www . cimmagazine . com