The romantic silhouette of the seaplane is to return to the River Clyde after an absence of 60 years, conjuring up a more stylish age of travel.

From the spring, daily flights will take off from the River Clyde, close to the old Govan shipyards in the heart of the city and landmarks such as the Glasgow Science Centre, to remote West Coast peninsulas and islands, cutting journey times from hours to minutes.

The city-centre seaplane service will be the first of its kind in Europe and one of only a few worldwide to use an urban waterway as a runway. The venture will be run by Loch Lomond Seaplanes, which has operated from the loch for three years and counts the actress Patsy Kensit, golfer Darren Clarke and Steve Redgrave, the Olympic rowing champion, among its customers.

The company, which is owned by David West, 49, an airline pilot with 30 years’ experience, has been given the go-ahead to expand on to the Clyde by the Civil Aviation Authority, Glasgow City Council and the Port Authority.

The company aims to offer up to five charter flights a day from March to November, with tickets costing £110 to £185.

Passengers will take off from Glasgow city centre in one of two amphibious seaplanes, to destinations expected to include the isles of Arran, Bute, Mull, Skye and Jura, as well as Oban, Crinan, Tighnabruaich and Campbeltown.

The service will allow island or “destination hopping”, according to Mr West. Travellers will be able to hop on and off where they like, and be picked up to move on somewhere else the next day. Aside from the spectacular scenery en route, the lure of the service is that a journey to Portree on Skye, for example, which would normally take 6½ hours by car, will take about 45 minutes.

The company will also offer half-hour and one-hour flight tours over the west coast, Trossachs and Highlands, as well as charter flights to the islands and business lunch trips to some of Scotland’s best restaurants in far-flung places.

Mr West said: “This will put Glasgow and the West of Scotland on a par with the Maldives, Vancouver, Seattle, Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef. It will help make Glasgow a city with one of the best waterfronts in the world.”

The new service marks a return of seaplanes to the Clyde where, during the Second World War, almost 300 Short Sunderland flying boats were built in a factory at Dumbarton Rock. They were used mainly by the RAF. The last left the factory slipway in 1945.

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