Aviation News - June 2016

T

he world’s  rst carbon-neutral

airline is a small operation based

in the Costa Rican capital of San

José. Nature Air, which has just  ve

commuter planes, is a pioneer in the booming

eco-tourism industry. Last September the

airline announced a $2.5m investment in a

three-year lease of four Let L 410 UVP-E20s.

HISTORY

The company was established in 1990 as

Travelair and operated with a single US-

registered Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander.

Ten years later it upgraded to a leased

US-registered Britten-Norman Trislander

before committing to a  eet of ‘Vistaliner’ de

Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and

changing its marketing name to Nature Air. In

2004 it was hailed as the world’s  rst carbon-

neutral carrier.

Prior to the arrival of the L 410s, which are

leased from Aircraft Systems South Africa,

Nature Air operated the Twin Otters and a

couple of Cessna Grand Caravans (TI-BBC

and TI-BEI). On September 9, 2015 the  rst

L 410 (ZS-EPB) was  own from Bethlehem

in South Africa via Brazzaville, Accra, Cape

Verde, Fortaleza, Guyana and Colombia,

arriving to a water cannon salute at Tobías

Bolaños International Airport in San José.

Once all four were delivered, the Caravans

were returned to the lessors leaving a single

Twin Otter (TI-BFO) and the L 410s (now TI-

BGM/BGO/BGP/BGQ) in the current  eet.

PERSONNEL

The airline is headed by CEO Alex E Khajavi.

Since 2001, Khajavi, an Iranian-born social

entrepreneur with experience and interests in

 elds including  nance, ecology and tourism,

has been behind the airline’s proactive

socio-economic and environmentally friendly

strategy.

Khajavi was hired in 2000 as a consultant

by Travelair to rescue the company’s unstable

business model and although the airline

had only a single BN-2, Khajavi successfully

created a new research and development

strategy at the company. However, after 9/11,

the global economy (including the airline and

tourism industries) took a dive and some

of Nature Air’s investors pulled out of the

company leaving Khajavi as the majority

shareholder and director.

Since then he has grown the airline and

its sister operations under the umbrella of the

Nature Air Group. By early 2016, the airline

employed 150 staff including 26 pilots, all of

whom are local. There is no requirement to

carry cabin staff because the aircraft are

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 49

Nature Air L 410 UVP-E20 TI-BGO thunders down the runway. Dennis Alvarado

De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter TI-BFO is the sole

example of the type in the airline’s  eet. Tom Singfi eld

Nature Air, based in the Costa

Rican capital, San José, operates a

colourful  eet of four L 410s and a

single Twin Otter. Dennis Alvarado

48-51_nature.JR.mf.indd 49 28/04/2016 17:33