Passengers are shown where their lifejackets are before the captain orders "please take your seats for take-off". All that's missing on this "flight" is the hostess.

Treated by its crew more like an aeroplane than a seagoing vessel, Scotland's first commuter hovercraft launches, or takes off, with invited guests looking impressed.

It's noisy but, like a plane, not unbearable. And, like a short flight, no sooner has the excitement of boarding, settling in your seat and taking in the view ended, so has the journey.

Less than 15 minutes later, the craft, which begins public trials on Monday, has crossed 10 miles of the Firth of Forth from Kirkcaldy in Fife to Portobello beach.

Take-off, the trip at speeds of up to 47 knots, and landing on a calm day is smooth. But then the benefit of hovering above the water allows the craft to tackle bad weather better than a boat.

It compares favourably in price and travel time to its main rival, the train, and it is hoped it will lure 130 commuters per trip from their cars to ease the east of Scotland's growing road congestion problem.

Costing £9.50 return at peak times, the quickest comparable train journey, say hovercraft operators Stagecoach, takes 35 minutes and costs £10.30 return at rush hour.

Passengers were able to walk around during the journey and take in the views in a cabin best compared to a spacious aircraft.

Captain Barrie Jehan, of Isle of Wight-based Hovertravel, insists this style of transport has a bright future.

Captain Jehan, who brought the craft from the Solent waterway earlier this week in 13 hours 12 minutes, acknowledged that hovercraft travel has not really enjoyed an easy ride.

He said: "There was not a lot of research and development put into hovercrafts over the years, but we are now addressing that."

But he added: "This craft has been designed from a blank piece of paper. It's a very good craft. As well as this trial we have patented the design of a craft in the United States. The industry is going from strength to strength and, far from being in the doldrums, the hovercraft industry is taking off."

A shuttle bus transports passengers from Portobello to Waverley and the combined time for the hovercraft and bus journey into the centre of Edinburgh is about 30 minutes.

It appears to be a viable alternative but is seen more as part of a holistic approach to tackling travel problems involving road, rail and sea.

The fact that it initially stands alone on a single route, unlike the long-established through rail links, means it must reach and mantain a certain level of patronage.

This, along with environmental impact, will be tested during the £300,000 trial. Stagecoach plans to run 22 services a day over the trial period.

Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group chief executive, said crossing times will average 20 minutes and that the craft will be able to cope with 6ft waves and operate 362 days a year.

He added: "A lot of people have done a lot of work to get to this stage and at this point, of course, it's just a trial but it's going to be very interesting.

"There has been a tremendous amount of interest raised around this, and I think from this we'll learn a great deal. We have had park-and-ride before but we've never had park-and-sail, so it's quite a novel idea and we think it can be competitive with car and train."

Mr Souter claimed the hovercraft service could reduce car journey times by as much as 60% compared with crossing the Forth Road Bridge.

Stagecoach estimates that running a permanent two-craft operation would cost about £2m a year, and that about 9000 passengers a week would use the service.

While it would require initial public investment, the company believes that within a few years passenger volumes could grow to make it commercially sustainable.

As the craft is flexible in terms of where it can land, Stagecoach say they will listen to consumers about other potential routes.

Pictures by Gordon Terris