The Maldives has built a seaplane ecosystem of more than 80 aircraft serving 2.25 million visitors. With 6,000 islands and islets and 43.3 million inbound travellers, Greece has the potential to create Europe’s largest and most diverse seaplane network and compete for a leading global position.
With around 6,000 islands and islets, 227 inhabited islands and a record 43.3 million inbound travellers in 2025, Greece’s tourism base is almost 19 times larger than that of the Maldives, which has demonstrated how seaplanes can underpin an island economy.
In the Maldives, with 2.25 million annual visitors, seaplanes are infrastructure rather than a luxury. Three operators, Trans Maldivian Airways, Manta Air and the national airline Maldivian, have more than 80 seaplanes between them. Trans Maldivian, the world’s largest operator, added its 66th aircraft this year and runs more than 400 daily flights to over 80 resorts across 16 atolls. The network is supported by a $55 million dedicated terminal beside Malé’s international airport, described as the world’s largest seaplane terminal.
A market almost 20 times larger
Greece has around five times as many islands and islets as the Maldives, including 227 inhabited islands, a long coastline, dozens of lakes, large cruise and yachting markets and many island destinations without airports. Bank of Greece figures cited in the article put international arrivals at a record 43.3 million in 2025, compared with 2.25 million in the Maldives.
Hellenic Seaplanes chairman and chief executive Nicolas Charalambous says Greece need not copy the Maldivian model, which primarily transfers visitors between the airport and resorts. In Greece, he argues, seaplanes could simultaneously serve nine markets: scheduled inter-island services; mainland–island links; cruise excursions; premium transfers to hotels and marinas; sightseeing; islands without airports; medical and government missions; lake operations; and, eventually, cross-border links to the Balkans, Italy and the eastern Mediterranean.
Infrastructure is in place, the company says
The company argues that the opportunity is no longer theoretical. In June, Hellenic Seaplanes operated what it describes as south-eastern Europe’s first international seaplane service, linking Ioannina with Vlorë in Albania, Tirana and Lake Ohrid, laying foundations for an Adriatic and Ionian network. In July, one of its aircraft carried the health minister, MPs and officials to Skopelos, Skyros and Patmos, demonstrating that infrastructure, procedures and safety arrangements were operational, it says.
The company says it has completed licensing for 42 water landing areas and seaplane ports nationwide. The remaining step is final approval for commercial operations through an Air Operator Certificate from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority.
The billion-dollar investment precedent
Some of the world’s largest investment organisations have already recognised the scale of the opportunity.
In 2013, Blackstone acquired control of the Maldives’ two largest seaplane operators, Trans Maldivian Airways and Maldivian Air Taxi, in a transaction valued at around $600 million. Their consolidation under TMA created the world’s largest seaplane operator, with a dominant position in resort transfers.
A subsequent transfer to Bain Capital took place in stages, with the company’s overall value approaching $1 billion.
Within a few years, the combined business’s value rose by more than $400 million. That growth came not simply from adding aircraft, but from building an integrated network, securing exclusive commercial relationships with resorts and establishing a dominant position in visitor transport.
Charalambous says the Maldives demonstrates that the real value lies not only in aircraft but in the network, infrastructure, access rights and strategic agreements with destinations. Combined, these can create an asset of considerable investment value. He argues that Greece has the geography, tourism demand and international position to build something larger: the first large-scale, multi-purpose seaplane network of its kind.
Greece must not lose another tourism season
Hellenic Seaplanes is urging the state to complete licensing promptly, while maintaining an absolute commitment to safety and consistent regulation, so Greece does not let another summer pass without using one of its strongest untapped advantages.
