Sydney Seaplanes previously used their C208 Caravan on an approved RPT service from Rose Bay to Newcastle, landing in the Hunter river and tying up near Honeysuckle, in the early 2010's I guess? It attracted a few regulars, but apparently was not successful in the long term. I tried it once - a wonderful way to travel on a nice day. This service was single pilot, no flight attendant. Each passenger was issued a belt mounted life jacket which you had to have at the ready during the flight (though you didn't actually fully don it). My understanding is this was a condition of approval for single engine operations in RPT - you must always be within gliding distance of a landing area, and the ocean counted but it was presumed an ocean landing would not necessarily be upright, hence the life jackets. The flight path followed the coast up to Newcastle and only operated VFR as I understand it. How would that work for a Canberra service, given the terrain would surely not be suitable for such a condition?
Btw, Wikipedia claims that Rose Bay has IATA code RSE - is that accurate? Was there an equivalent code for Newcastle CBD/Hunter River when Sydney Seaplanes operated that service? Could travel agents / booking channels sell these tickets "normally?" I remember booking mine direct through the web site.