(Flight International 1 July 1998). The Financial Vice President of Pilatus, Oscar Brundler, is quoted in this weeks edition of Flight International, as saying that Pilatus Britten Norman is up for sale. Kenn Heeley and David Thurston have designed an amphibious conversion based of the Islander aircraft, manufactured by PBN.
(Huddersfield, Tuesday 29 Dec 97). Kenn Heeley, announced that he now had orders for 6 amphibians with an option for a seventh. Heeley stated that the levels of interest shown by letters and email received, the orders and the many visitors to the web site vindicated the conclusions reached by the independent marketing consultants.
(Huddersfield; Monday 29 Dec 97) - Kenn Heeley is pleased to announce an order for two amphibians from aviation brokers, Czech Aerospace s.r.o. Managing Director, Tomas Chlumecky, says that he is proposing to launch a new seaplane airline in the Caribbean using the Islander amphibian, and anticipates other deals as well. Czech Aerospace has experience in seaplane operations, currently working on several projects throughout the world, where amphibious aircraft are needed at this time. Chlumecky says 'I am a firm believer in the size and viability of the amphibian market'.
(Huddersfield; Tuesday 2 Dec 97) K Heeley is delighted to announce that he has received an order for the fourth amphibian from NEWFOUNDLAND LABRADOR AIR TRANSPORT LTD. Pierre Meagher, President of NLAT, stated that he had reviewed all the information on the new amphibian and was happy to place an order on what he had seen.
The Islander Amphibian
For potential operators we have included an expanded -
and
summary outlining operating costs at a competitive 31 cents per seat per mile. Click a link to find out more.
(Huddersfield: Wednesday 26 Nov 97) K Heeley was delighted to receive the second order from Ocean Air Overseas Ltd based in Gibraltar. The company operates as a charter operator and plans to expand its services into North Africa. Principal, Ed Mort stated that ' we have been looking closely at suitable candidates for our African operation ' and ' was very impressed by the specification of the new Islander Flying Boat '. Ocean Air has placed an order for one amphibian plus an option for a second.
(Thursday 30 Oct) K Heeley received a solid enquiry from consultant, Peter McLaughlin who is working on an ecotourism project in Mozambique. Peter is based in Maputu and is considering the amphibian as an option to solve the transport problems. The market studies identified, that the low environmental impact of the amphibian operation was a strong selling point for the aircraft.
(Tuesday 7 Oct) Preliminary contacts were established with an aircraft LEASING company to discuss the innovative packages being developed. The 'pay by the hour' concept can mean all in hourly rates as low as $232.
23 Oct 98