FLYING SUCCESS FOR RYDE HOVER IN SCOTLAND
The Solent Express hovercraft has returned to Ryde after carrying more than 32,000 passengers on 284 crossings, during a fortnight of trials in Scotland. The vessel has been flying 9 miles across the Firth of Forth, between Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy in just 20 minutes. She will now resume journeys between Ryde and Southsea. Stagecoach, who commissioned the trial service, is now working out how viable it would be to run a permanent cross-Forth hovercraft service. Hovertravel’s Marketing Manager Loretta Lale said: “Not only is this a success for the trial across the Forth for Stagecoach, but a great promotion for Hovertravel and the Isle of Wight.”