A VIAT ION
IS L AND
British owned and built, the Britten-Norman Islander transports passengers around some of the most exotic locations on earth
HOPPING I
busin e s s t r a ve lle r . c o m
n the world of aviation fleet management, it’s all about maximising revenue. Seat configurations, range extension, fuel economy, noise reduction… these are the issues that keep an airline CEO awake at night. But not all airlines have the same issues. Tere are other priorities for those that operate in some of the most wonderful, and exhilarating, parts of the world. Airlines that connect tropical islands, for example. And airlines that commute between African hubs and
the bumpy unmetalled strips of safari country. Airlines such as Loganair, which operates the shortest scheduled flight
in the world – the two minutes between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkneys. Or Barrier Air, commuting between Auckland and Great Barrier Island in New Zealand. Or Fly Montserrat, which connects the volcanic Caribbean island of Montserrat with the outside world. Tese carriers have a few key things in common: they run essential
services in places where facilities are few, but the rewards – scenically – are sky high. And they all use one particular veteran aircraſt that has a particularly doughty reputation: the Britten-Norman Islander. Te Islander has been described as the “Land Rover of the skies”
because of its ability to operate in challenging conditions. In the Orkneys, for example, when the weather cuts up rough and the inter- island ferries seek shelter, the Islander still does its circuit, although it’ll be a bumpy ride.
BRITISH HERITAGE Like the Land Rover itself, the Islander is strongly associated with Britain, and it has been for the last 53 years. Britten-Norman is the only remaining privately owned civil aircraſt manufacturer based in the UK, and its aircraſt are still assembled according to a design first drawn up in 1963. Mainstream aviation may be fast changing, but in the world of the Islander, much stays the same. John Britten and Desmond Norman started the company 64 years ago.
Teir original intention was to create a slow-flying, low-maintenance crop duster that could cope with a lifetime of taking off and landing on unprepared tracks, and that could do so without shaking itself to pieces. Te Islander went into production at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, where its proprietary components are still made; though the airframe assembly is partly done in Romania (as it has been for 50 years), and then completed in Britten-Norman’s large hangar at Solent Airport in Fareham, Hampshire.
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