36 Vol. 9 / No. 12/ December/January 2017/18 Global Aviator
Industry news
Textron Aviation Inc. announced at the
Dubai Airshow that it is had begun
delivery to Tuareg Aviation Ltd for 10
Cessna Grand Caravan EX turboprops.
The aircraft will be operated by Mack
Air (Pty) Ltd to provide charter,
cargo and logistic services between
a network of independently ownedbush safari lodges in the popular
Okavango Delta and Kalahari
Plains regions of Botswana. The
aircraft will partially replace Mack
Air’s current fleet, which currently
includes Grand Caravan turboprops.
“The Caravan platform continues
to prove its incredible performanceand reliability in challenging
environments,” said Lannie
O’Bannion, vice president of sales,
Africa. “An ideal platform for charter
operators like Mack Air, the Caravan
offers the performance and impressive
cargo capabilities commuter operators
desire while providing the comfort and
cabin features passengers appreciate.”
“Our business relies on versatile
aircraft that not only operate in harsh
environments, but also transport
our passengers comfortably, along
with the necessary cargo required to
sustain our clients’ safari lodges,” said
Mike Weyl of Mack Air Charter. “The
Caravan platform has served us well,
and we look forward to enhancing
our business with the reliable
and modernized fleet of Cessna
Grand Caravan EX turboprops.”
Textron Aviation’s South African
based channel partner, Absolute
Aviation, will provide maintenance
support for the new aircraft at a
new maintenance facility in Maun,
Botswana. Absolute Aviation’s
Maun facility is an addition to its
existing aircraft parts business
established earlier in 2017, and will
include a hangar, aircraft engineer
and management. •Textron Aviation begins delivery of
10 Cessna Grand Caravan EX turboprops to support
charter service in Botswana
Long regarded as an island beyond
the reach of those wanting to explore
the remote St Helena, known by many
simply as where Napoleon spent the last
years of his life, SA Airlink now flies
direct to the island from Cape Town
and Johannesburg with Windhoek
currently falling away as a link.
St Helena is famous for the
abundance of life and beauty on this
remote South Atlantic Ocean island
where one has the opportunity to
swim with its whale sharks, explore
historic wrecks and walk its rolling
hills. Just 122 square kilometres in
area, it is a place full of unique flora
and fauna, history and heritage.
Passengers will have the choice of
both Economy and Business Class on
the flights, with 70 seats in Economy
and six in Business. For checked or hold
baggage, the general free allowance
on Airlink flights is 20kg in Economy
Class and 30kg in Business Class peradult passenger. In addition to the
checked or hold baggage, passengers
may carry the following cabin or hand
baggage. Each piece should not exceed
8kg: 1 Piece plus 1 slimline laptop
bag (Economy Class) / 2 Pieces plus 1
slimline laptop bag (Business Class).
SA Airlink flights depart to St
Helena on Saturdays returning on
Sunday. A once a month service
between St Helena and Ascension
Island started in November.Accommodation
St Helena offers a range of
accommodation options. There are
currently 3 hotels on the island,
a number of guest houses, bed &
breakfast establishments as well as
self-catering accommodation.
It is advisable that booking of
accommodation should be a prerequisite
in advance prior to visiting the
island, as the demand is high. •St Helena Island accessible
from Johannesburg and Cape Town
Piper Aircraft, announced its aircraft
sales and deliveries results for the third
quarter of 2017, ending September 30th.
Aircraft sales continued to grow in both
the Trainer class and M-class product
lines with the flagship M600 and the
single engine Archer TX trainer leading
the sales expansion for the company.
The company delivered 42 aircraft in
Q3 worth $48.6M. The 2017 year to date
performance also grew over the same
period in 2016 with a nearly $45M or
57% increase. Additionally Piper product
deliveries have grown by 19 units, when
compared to the same period in 2016,
which represents a 24% increase. Piper
Archer deliveries continue to expand with
55% more units delivered vs. 2016.
“In Q3, our continued investments
across all of our products as well as our
commitment to a made to order business
model has helped drive another quarter
of strong growth and sales expansion
and has also resulted in the lowest dealer
inventory levels that we have seen in 5
years,” said President and CEO, Simon
Caldecott. “As we look forward to the
last quarter of the year, deliveries of our
value leading products are expected to
continue to increase with deliveries of our
robust primary aircraft trainers expected
to reach their highest level in 14 years.” •Piper’s deliveries and
revenue soar
in third quarter of 2017