If seaplanes could land on the Thames, McClean reasoned, then why not on the Nile and other rivers in Africa?

BBC: Frank McClean: Forgotten pioneer of the sky

Ask for a harbour mountain-view room and you can watch seaplanes take off from Coal Harbour or see the first streaks of light hit the snow-capped North Shore mountains as you sip your morning coffee.

BBC: Business trip: Vancouver

For the Maldives, a group of coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, linked by small boats and the world's second-largest fleet of Twin-Otter seaplanes, competition looks a rather different issue than it might do in New Jersey.

ECONOMIST: Another peril for paradise