In celebration of its 35th anniversary, Woodgate Air Charter has added a Jetstream 31 to its fleet. The company also operates three Piper Chieftains, two Aztecs and a Britten Norman Trislander from its bases in Belfast and the Isle of Man.

Director John Keen explained the choice of aircraft: “Due to our background we have tended not to look at the turbine aircraft market and concentrated on specialising purely in piston aircraft. With the geographic locations of the two bases, we are in a very strong position as we are the only AOC holder in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man in the general aviation charter market.

“Due to the number of PA31 flights in excess of two hours from our Belfast base, we felt it was time to stick our toe into the water, so we bought the low time Jetstream 31 and made it available for general charter.”

The company has enjoyed a steady increase in business since it began operating in 1969, and anticipates that the Jetstream will prove successful as brokers and the business aviation community learn of the acquisition.

The company has held a medevac contract on the island for four years and gained the first major modification approval to install a Lifeport stretcher unit inside a PA31 three years ago. Woodgate performs, on average, 500 medevac missions per year.

“We are presently in discussions with Lifeport to kit the Jetstream out with a quick re-role medevac interior using the Lifeport unit with an electromechanical loading system, which saves manual loading of the patient,” said Keen.

Woodgate supplies its Piper Chieftains to the Northern Irish Health Board’s medevac services for missions over two hours in duration, and the company believes that the latest fleet addition will prove to be ideal for this role due to its increased speed, room and ability to pressurise to sea level – which is required in some special transfer cases.

The company is also considering the purchase of a multi-configuration 10-seat interior to replace the current 19-seat commuter interior, in order to make long distance travel for 10 passengers more comfortable.