AIR SEYCHELLES BRINGS FORWARD DELIVERY OF THREE NEW TWIN OTTER PLANES
(Posted 08th April 2014)
Information was just confirmed by Air Seychelles and Viking, the manufacturers of the Twin Otter DHC 6-400 aircraft, that an order placed last October by Air Seychelles will now be delivered this year already and not as initially anticipated in 2015.
Air Seychelles, in a widely reported deal, put pen to paper to order three state of the art new Twin Otters to replace their three ageing Twin Otter DHC 6-300 series, after already taking delivery of one of the newer versions of this aircraft type two years ago. The aircraft type is seen as ideal to fly the short distances between the main island of Mahe to other of the inner and outer islands of the archipelago for its ability to take off and land at very short and rough unpaved airstrips.
(Seen here at the signing ceremony on the 29th October last year are the Seychelles Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Director of Air Seychelles Joel Morgan [in the middle] flanked by David Curtis of Viking [on the left] and then Air Seychelles CEO Cramer Ball [on the right].
It was mentioned in October last year, following the signing of the deal that, should opportunity arise for Viking to deliver the new aircraft earlier it would be done and by June this year two of the three new birds will fly from Canada to the Seychelles, followed later in the year, probably in October, by the third new aircraft.
Air Seychelles flies multiple daily scheduled services between Mahe and the second largest island Praslin and also serves other islands such as Bird Island, Denis, Fregate and D’Arros by charter.
The airline’s CEO Manoj Papa had this to say when making the announcement earlier today at the Air Seychelles headoffice at the international airport on Mahe: ‘Air Seychelles’ international and domestic operations continue to move from strength to strength, and the arrival of these new aircraft into our fleet ahead of schedule marks a great milestone in our growth plan. They will form the backbone of a rejuvenated Air Seychelles domestic fleet, secure the future of our inter-island services, and help to cement Seychelles tourism and the local economy. Our domestic flying business also offers a great career path for Seychellois. This year we are training five new domestic pilots and have promoted two First Officers to Captains. In the past two years, eight domestic pilots have moved on to train on the Airbus A330-200 at Etihad Airways’ modern Training Academy in Abu Dhabi’.
Viking, which bought the defunct De Havilland company, decided four years ago to resume production of the upgraded state of the art Twin Otter DHC 6-400 model and the commercial success in selling these STOL aircraft has confirmed that this decision was entirely justified.
Incorporated in 1970, Viking Air Limited is an aerospace manufacturing company located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Viking owns the Type Certificates for the de Havilland Canada legacy fleet, and has been providing all product support functions since May 2005. In 2010, Viking certified the Twin Otter Series 400, now in service in over 18 countries worldwide and regarded as the best-selling 19 passenger turbo-prop aircraft available on the market today. Viking is part of Westerkirk Capital Inc., a Canadian private investment firm with substantial holdings in the hospitality, aviation and real estate sectors.
