- January 9, 2026
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Certain guests of the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort may soon arrive to their reservations from above.
St. Regis and Tropic Ocean Airways announced their partnership via social media Tuesday with a video portraying a couple boarding a dual-pontoon-equipped plane to arrive for their St. Regis reservation.
“New in 2026: arrive by seaplane to Sarasota’s most coveted barrier island. Our sanctuary of timeless glamour has never felt more exquisite,” St. Regis posted.
Tropic Ocean Airways posted the same video, writing that the private plane charter will soon be “offering direct seaplane arrivals to Sarasota’s most coveted barrier island.” Tropic Ocean Airways Director of Sales and Partnerships Patricia Summerfield said the service is more than just transportation.
“It’s experiential. Everyone’s looking to elevate their adventures and vacations by doing something very unique, and this is something that is truly unique,” Summerfield said. “With this experience we can leave from the Miami seaplane base from the water and land on Sarasota Bay or we can leave from Palm Beach Rybovich, the super yacht marina, and land directly on the bay. So the opportunity for a water-to-water luxury arrival aligned with a brand such as St. Regis makes it truly unique.”
Seaplanes and floatplanes are a type of aircraft that don’t need runways to land, instead landing directly on the water by means of pontoons or a buoyant fuselage. The promotional video posted portrays a Cessna 208B pontoon plane taking off from a private airport, flying over Longboat Key and the St. Regis and landing on the water to drop off its guests. That model of plane can accommodate eight passengers.
Summerfield said the planes would land near Ken Thompson Park on City Island, where a boat piloted by a local charter captain would pick up the passengers and take them on a brief trip to shore. There, a St. Regis Bentley will be awaiting the guests to drive them over the New Pass Bridge and to the resort. A personal butler will be awaiting to escort them to their cabana reservation with a chilled bottle of champagne ready to uncork. A sunset dinner reservation and “golden hour gong ritual” is also included in the package.
“It’s luxury from start to finish, and you get an aerial tour,” Summerfield said. “You get to see the state of Florida from above, and we also do flyovers over the hotel. Seaplanes typically fly at 2,000 feet, so you’re getting a beautiful aerial tour along the way.”
Summerfield said flights will begin as they are sold, with introductory rates starting at $5,000 for one-way flights originating from the airline’s home base of Fort Lauderdale Airport.
The airline is already fielding calls from interested parties.
“I have requests for it in January, so hopefully we’ll be able to sell one that’s coming in January,” Summerfield said. “Obviously this is part of announcing something really fun, bespoke and beautiful at the beginning of the new year. We’re hoping that this is a good time to launch and we’ll have people through the winter and the spring.”
Taking off and landing airplanes comes with governmental regulation.
But there doesn’t seem to be anything preventing seaplane landings on Sarasota Bay.
Federally, pilots would need to clear their departures and landings with air traffic controllers. But that is mostly the extent of federal approval needed from licensed pilots and aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration wrote in a statement that seaplanes “can land on water provided pilots do it safely without posing a hazard to anyone on the surface. Local and state governments, and some federal agencies, may restrict where planes land.”
Seaplane Pilots Association Member Care and Events Coordinator Carter Clay said a seaplane pilot who wants to land on a body of water does not need approval from the FAA for each landing, but that they would be in touch with the local air traffic controller to inform them of their descent, especially over Sarasota Bay where Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport-bound and outgoing flights traverse regularly.
“Tropic Ocean operates in compliance with all federal aviation regulations and in close coordination with air traffic control when operating within controlled airspace and airport traffic areas,” Tropic Oceans Airways COO Kimo Buckon said.
The experienced pilots of Tropic Ocean Airways are well aware of the process, Buckon said, and the airline has done its due diligence, establishing “landing site briefs” that pilots will be well versed in ahead of any trips.
Since Sarasota Bay is tidally influenced, it’s considered a federally regulated waterway.
“Seaplanes can land, and once they land they are considered a vessel. So they would have to follow all markers as if they were a boat,” Clay said.
FDOT spokesperson Jason Heironimus said whether FDOT would regulate a seaplane landing on Sarasota Bay depends on if the operation is intended for public or private use, with the latter not regulated by the state.
“Private-use seaplane bases (Any body of water used for the takeoff and landing of aircraft, including any land, building, structure, or any other contrivance that facilitates private-use or intended private-use) are exempt from regulatory oversight from the FDOT,” Heironimus said in an email. “Basically, on public bodies of water like the Gulf or Sarasota Bay, if the pilot-in-command of the aircraft is landing on that body of water for his own private-use and there is no owner or entity advertising the services of a public-use seaplane base then that would likely fall under an exempt activity not requiring our approvals… If the number of flight operations exceeds a certain threshold, then the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would need to provide a favorable determination that a private-use airport is acceptable for that location, and they would need to approve.”
The operation is also A-OK from Sarasota County’s perspective.
“Sarasota County Code does not contain provisions that specifically regulate seaplane landing areas,” a spokesperson said.
Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton said it was the first time he heard of it when asked whether there were any town regulations or approvals needed for seaplane landings. Town code states that it is unlawful for aircraft to land within town limits except at established airports. City Island is not in town limits; the land there is under the jurisdiction of the city of Sarasota.
“If they land in Sarasota Bay outside of the town’s jurisdiction and say motor up to City Island and offload there, we have no position on that as it will be operating completely outside of the town’s boundaries,” Tipton said.
Summerfield said Tropic Ocean Airways is aware of the town’s rules and is keeping potential environmental impacts in mind.
“Of course we have our director of operations, our pilots and our director of safety. All was checked. The municipality rules, the city, the state, every single thing we would need to look into. And once they clear it, then that’s when we pursue the partnership,” Summerfield said. “We understand we can’t land on Longboat Key. We know there are sanctuaries in the area for birds and other wildlife. This is something that is not new to us.”
In an emailed comment to the Observer, St. Regis General Manager Winfred Van Workum said the resort is excited about the partnership with Tropic Ocean Airways and the experience it will offer resort guests. "All operations adhere to federal, state and local aviation regulations, ensuring safe landing in Sarasota Bay near Ken Thompson Park," he said in the email. "These flights are conducted responsibly, with no impact to the water or local marine life, including dolphins and manatees."
