After more than 30 hours, Hovertravel’s Island Flyer hovercraft has been repaired and has re-entered service tonight (Monday).
The 12000TD craft developed its latest technical fault on Sunday afternoon and hasn’t run since. However, sea trials in the past half an hour have proven successful allowing a cross-Solent service to resume.
With Solent Flyer out of action for major repair works in Southampton, the entire Ryde to Southsea operation is reliant on Island Flyer.
Very little has been said about the breakdown of the sole remaining hovercraft other than that a ‘pump’ needed to be replaced. It was estimated that the repair would take 2 hours to complete, however Hovertravel were forced to cancel all services for the majority of Sunday and for almost all of today.
Disgruntled customers have expressed their disappointment at the lack of open communication from Hovertravel’s management team with many feeling left in the dark. Although Hovertravel have apologised for any inconvenience caused, they’ve not fully explained the latest drama.
Wightlink’s catamaran service has come to the rescue of the hundreds of people who rely on Hovertravel’s service to commute to work each day.
Many will be left wondering if a similar situation will reoccur over the next 6 weeks that Solent Flyer remains in Southampton.
