Copenhagen Østerport, 27.11.2025.

Seaplane operations in Europe are surprisingly limited. One airline operates scheduled flights, flying their two Twin Otters between Copenhagen and Aarhus. During the last days of November, we decided with Görkem to make a short trip to Aarhus to sample some seaplane action.

The plan was as follows: the first day, get from the airport directly to the docks and fly to Aarhus. Friday afternoon, take the train back to Copenhagen and see the city on Saturday before flying back.

After our Blue & yellow 738 landed from the north-east, we took the yellow robo-metro line to the centre. From the station, it was just a 20 minute walk to the seaplane base near Kastelett, the star/sea turtle-shaped fortified island near the shore.

We were surprised to learn that The Nordic Seaplanes “Terminal” and pier are located a stone’s throw away from the Little Mermaid statue. The lounge was closed until about 30 minutes before departure, but I was more interested in catching the landing anyways. The flight could be seen on fr24 making its way slowly over Danemark on its 150km journey from Aarhus. I didn’t take the big lens with me, nor were we located anywhere close to get a good shot, so we stayed near the pier to get the docking operation.

Here’s some info about Nordic, taken from their website:

• Fleet: Two DHC-6-300 Twin Otters‚ fitted with Amphibious floats.
• Passengers: Up to 16 (depending on route distance)
• Speed: 250 km/h
• Max distance: 750 km (depending on payload)
• Typical cruising altitude: from 500m to 1500m
• Avionics: Garmin 950
• Engines: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A engines (620 shaft horsepower each)
• Crew: 2 pilots

Taking a float flight is not unlike taking a cab. You say your name, your bag gets weighted and you are givrn a re-usable oversized plastic boarding card. We waited about 10 min in the lounge with free coffee and water, before walking the last 50m to the plane.

During take-off, winds were about 10 knots. Which is also their limit for tail wind take-off, which is why we had to backtrack the channel for about 5 min.

Take-off happend fast and before we knew it, the amphibian floats were off the surface of the sea.

With outside temperature of about 6-7 degrees and slight winds, the cabin was quite cold at first, but got quite warm after about 20-30 minutes.

Flying at 6-700ft just below the clouds.

After take-off, we took an immediate left turn toward the land, and stayed above ground, the Sjælland region, for about 20 minutes minutes. As we transitioned from land to sea, the cloud base seemed to drop slightly and things got a bit bumpy in the last 20 minutes. At times, we got some roller-coaster style, fun kind of stomach moving turbulence, as well as crabbing a bit in level flight as the wind changed along the way.

Being seated just 2 rows behind the open cockpit, I had a good view of the instrument displays and altimeter. We were initially flying at around 700 feet and got as low as 6, even 500 feet above the sea. We were flying at the very bottom of the cloud base, which felt like being in a light fog.

The flight itself is about 45-50 minutes. Landing was butter smooth, followed vy direct taxi onto the small pier with cozy little box shaped lounge hut.

 

Operating seaplanes in Europe is no walk in the park

After we landed, we got talking with the co-pilot who said the remaining flights of the day were cancelled because minimums were passed and wind was picking up. He said they had been flying all day up to that point.

He also said our flight was bumpy, but that it gets “way worse”. Apparently this was only bumpy but not too windy.

According to the pilot, in order to operate, the company has come to define about 48 runways (on the sea) because of strange Europe regulations where seaplanes operation apparently need “runway” 👀. Getting the neccessary permits from the EASA apparently isn’t easy, which makes it more understandable why they are actually the only operator in Europe. In the off season during the winter, they will fly to Switzerland to overhaul the DeHavilland twins. It seems that as european seaplane pilots, they are rarer than cosmonauts.

Flexing the Amphibious capabilities

About 5 minutes later, since the plane had done its job for the day, engines were quickly started again. I thought they would fly somewhere, so got ready for some last videos. It turns out that they were headed to the hanger. I didn’t manage to get to a good position in time, but seeing the plane up close go up the ramp at high power was still impressive.

Later using a small tractor, the ground crew pushed in 9H-OCEAN. Two of them served as wing walkers on both sides the remaining 150m or so to the nearby tarp hangar. Outside the water, the plane is quite imposing.

The Aarhus seaport is located only about 2.5 km from the city. We decided to walk directly to the hotel to drop our bags and continue to the centre.

I think I will be coming back for seconds, hopefully Nordic continues to be successful in running this unique operation. I am thankful for these guy’s dedication and perseverance, going against the odds presented by the european aviation landscape and making it work.

‘Til next time!

Philippe