Press Release

Issued by Aviair.

January 14, 2015

Leading Kimberley charter operator Aviair has taken delivery of its first upgraded Cessna Grand Caravan. Speaking on arrival of the aircraft at Kununurra, Aviator Group ceo Ian Vanderbeek said “our commitment to safety and the continued modernization of the Aviair fleet has seen some of the most modern avionics systems fitted to this aircraft, including dual state of the art satellite navigation systems which far exceed the requirements placed on us by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, allowing our pilots to navigate to remote locations with pin point accuracy and redundancy for added safety.” Aviair chief pilot Max Bladon said “the upgrade also includes advanced colour weather radar which allows our flight crew to see hazardous weather many miles ahead of the aircraft, thereby giving them time to deviate around weather for maximum passenger comfort.” 

Vanderbeek said “one of the key enhancements on the flight deck is synthetic vision which enables the pilot to see terrain and features in reduced visibility displayed on a screen in front of the pilot even when in cloud. This, coupled with Terrain Awareness, gives our pilots some of the most advanced detection and warning systems available on the market today.” Aviair has also installed ADS-B transponders which allow Air Traffic Control to “see” where the aircraft is at any time in relation to other aircraft“. Along with our own on board satellite tracking device this allows our flight operations to know the location of our aircraft in real time anywhere worldwide” said Bladon. general manager, commercial, James Blake said that “passenger comfort is of the utmost importance to Aviair and as a result we have also refurbished the interior of the aircraft to enhance the passenger experience. Given the quiet passenger compartment and quiet operation of the reliable turboprop engine we guarantee a level of passenger comfort and safety not seen before in the Kimberley.” 

A second upgraded aircraft will join the fleet in February with the remaining aircraft in the fleet to be completed in the next 12 months.