High-profile Sydney hotelier Jerry Schwartz has moved to acquire a majority stake in Sydney Seaplanes (Sydney Rose Bay), aiming to scale up to full ownership in mid-2025 and grow the fleet from three to five aircraft by the end of the year.
Schwartz already held a minority stake of around 10% in Sydney Seaplanes via his Schwartz Family Company investment vehicle. Until now, the carrier was majority-owned by Aaron Shaw and Ken Gaunt. Under the buyout deal's terms, Shaw and Gaunt will end their day-to-day involvement in the company when Schwartz assumes full ownership.
The new owner will take on the operations and management of three amphibious Cessna (single turboprop) C208s and single DHC-2 currently operated by Sydney Seaplanes. Those aircraft are already owned either by Schwartz or in partnership with Gaunt and Shaw. He plans to take the already upmarket business more upmarket, with a luxury hospitality focus at the Rose Bay terminal and "inspirational tours." Schwartz says he intends to add a second DH2 and another aircraft of undisclosed type by the end of the year. Also included in the sale are hangars and associated infrastructure at Sydney Bankstown Airport.
A medical doctor, Schwartz has built a successful hotel property and tourism business, owning 15 mid-range to high-end hotels around Australia that offer a combined 4,300 rooms.
In October 2024, Shaw told ch-aviation that Sydney Seaplanes wanted to branch out from tourism and leisure flying, primarily sightseeing and ferrying passengers to waterside restaurants in the Pittwater region, to scheduled operations to Newcastle Harbour and Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin under the Alt Air (Sydney Rose Bay) brand with a standalone air operator's licence. Shaw and Gaunt will continue their involvement with Alt Air, which will acquire its own aircraft. Schwartz will retain a shareholding in this business.
