Tidal Flight and Tropic Ocean Airways Sign Agreement to Introduce Tidal’s Polaris Aircraft to Florida, the Bahamas, and Beyond
Miami, FL – Sustainable regional mobility in Florida, the Bahamas, and beyond has taken a step forward today with the announcement of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between Virginia-based Tidal Flight and Florida-based Tropic Ocean Airways to introduce Tidal’s Polaris hybrid-electric seaplane to Tropic Ocean Airways’ fleet. Announced today at the Future Opportunities for Seaplanes and Amphibious Aviation 2025 (FOSAA25) conference in Miami, the LOI features 20 Polaris Amphibian aircraft and is valued at over $100 million.
Tropic Ocean Airways is a major seaplane airline based in Ft. Lauderdale and founded in 2009. With a large fleet of Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft, Tropic Ocean Airways offers convenient access to destinations throughout Florida, the Bahamas, and the Hamptons. Tropic Ocean Airways and its Founder & CEO, Rob Ceravolo, have drawn on their deep operational experience to help launch seaplane airlines worldwide, acting as an influential leader driving the growing momentum behind seaplane aviation. Ceravolo acknowledges this important role, saying, “We have been an industry leader in seaplane aviation, with one of North America’s biggest seaplane fleets, a rigorous safety standard instilled by my background as a US Navy pilot, and efforts to help grow seaplane aviation worldwide. Looking ahead to 2030, we want to be a leader in sustainable aircraft and in the adoption of next-generation technology, and this agreement with Tidal helps us do that”.
Founded by Jude Augustine, Pranav Krishnamurthy, and Mark Lau, three aerospace engineers with electric aviation backgrounds from the Georgia Institute of Technology and BETA Technologies, Tidal Flight is developing the Polaris aircraft. Polaris is a modern, clean-sheet, hybrid-electric seaplane that can carry 9-12 passengers with baggage and is capable of landing on both waterways and runways. “Seaplanes present the opportunity to provide direct, low-infrastructure access to city centers, remote communities, and coastal destinations. Our aircraft brings a step-change reduction in operating costs and fuel burn to help bring that unique access to more people and more places with low to no emissions”, said Jude Augustine, Co-Founder & CEO at Tidal Flight.
Tidal brings a practical approach to sustainability with Polaris, driving an 85% reduction in fuel burn on typical sector lengths, reducing corrosion-related maintenance, and bringing a ~20 dB reduction in takeoff noise, all while delivering high payload-range performance without expensive charge infrastructure at outstations. “Tidal’s quiet, comfortable, hybrid-electric aircraft helps us deliver on our sustainability goals while offering a superior product to our customers and without compromising on range, payload, or cruise speed. Polaris brings a legitimate improvement to our revenue generation capability and reduction in operating costs, rather than compromising on the business case to accommodate electrification”, said Ceravolo about Tidal’s approach. With the capability to burn Sustainable Aviation Fuels in the near-term and the capability to outfit the Polaris airframe with a fully battery-electric or hydrogen-electric powertrain in the long-term, Polaris offers a clear pathway to zero-emissions operation as technology and infrastructure improve.
“Tidal’s rapid execution of critical technical milestones like flying their 1/6-scale prototype and completing a towing tank test campaign give us confidence that this team will deliver on their goals”, said Ceravolo about Tidal’s team and progress. Including the agreement with Tropic Ocean Airways, Tidal has received 8 LOIs from seaplane and commuter airlines worldwide, representing more than $650 million in orders and validating the extensive potential reach of seaplane aviation.
More about Tidal Flight
Tidal Flight is a Hampton Roads, Virginia-based startup founded in 2023 to build aircraft for sustainable and affordable air travel. Tidal’s first aircraft is Polaris, a modern 9-12 passenger hybrid-electric seaplane designed to serve coastal regional mobility. To learn more about Tidal Flight, visit www.tidalflight.com.
More about Tropic Ocean Airways
Founded and Operated by a NAVY Fighter Pilot, Tropic Ocean Airways offers private charter, scheduled flights and yacht transfers throughout Florida, the Bahamas, and the Northeast. Tropic Ocean Airways has a fleet of 14 aircraft – a mix of wheeled and amphibious (seaplanes) Cessna Grand Caravans – and exclusively operates with a FAA-certified two-pilot crew.
Tropic Ocean Airways is the recipient of the highly coveted ARGUS Gold rating and has developed and implemented the Aviator Career Enhancement (ACE) Program which is modeled after US Navy flight training best practices. To learn more about Tropic Ocean Airways, visit FlyTropic.com.