Summary
- Britten-Norman has found a buyer, Spirit Air, for its newest Islander turboprop aircraft in India. 6 BN2T-4S Islanders can be purchased directly from the factory.
- The BN2T-4S is the most important variant of the Islander, featuring an prolonged cabin and twin Rolls-Royce engines. It has the flexibility to land and take off on short runways.
- Spirit Air plans to make use of the BN2T-4S Islanders for scheduled passenger services, connecting distant grass airstrips with primary airports in India. The airline goals to offer sub-regional connectivity.
Britten-Norman, the UK aircraft manufacturer, has announced a buyer for the latest version of its Islander turboprop aircraft. Six brand latest BN2T-4S Islander aircraft will go to domestic commuter airline Spirit Air in India.
The 2 parties announced they’d signed a Letter of Intent for the acquisition of six aircraft directly from the factory once accomplished.
One other Islander
The BN2T-4S is the most important variant of the Islander. It features an prolonged cabin to permit for one additional row of seats compared with the usual piston Islander. The aircraft is powered by twin Rolls-Royce (Allison) Model 250 turboprop engines, bringing a 22% increase in disposable payload without sacrificing the sort’s famous short takeoff and landing capabilities.
The cockpit can be equipped with the most recent Garmin avionics and are entirely IFR capable, including FIKI. The aircraft’s interior and seating configuration can be fully customized to satisfy Spirit Air’s needs as a scheduled commuter airline. The kind received its type certification with the FAA and is currently within the strategy of becoming certified in India. Mark Shipp, Technical Director and Head of Design at Britten-Norman highlighted how well the brand new aircraft is fitted to this role:
Photo: Britten-Norman
Spirit Air will initially take delivery of 4 factory-refurbished BN2T-4S Islanders from the manufacturer to permit the carrier to start service while the brand new fleet is being accomplished at Britten-Norman’s newly established UK facility,
Who’s Spirit Air?
The airline was founded by ex-Air India staff desiring to offer scheduled passenger and perishable cargo services. Spirit Air has received its operating license from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, to operate Scheduled Commuter Air Transport services.
The regional airline announced it’s going to use its incoming fleet of BN2T-4S Islander aircraft to operate scheduled passenger services across India. The important thing focus can be providing vital sub-regional connectivity between distant grass airstrips and municipal landing strips with the country’s key primary airports to facilitate domestic connections and onward travel. Capitan S. K. Verma, Managing Partner of Spirit Air, noted how the aircraft would perfectly suit the airline’s needs and highlighted the sort’s longstanding use in Indian Aviation:
Job postings for the airline also mention a possible for King Air 250 pilots, although no announcement has been made concerning a forthcoming acquisition of the sort.