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Aircraft serial number 2317 is the first Islander to be fully built in the UK since 1968.
WASHINGTON—When the first Britten-Norman Islander flew on June 13, 1965, the British aircraft industry was building an array of commercial aircraft from the turboprop Hawker Siddeley HS.748 to the long-range Vickers VC10. They were to be followed by names familiar to regional aviation including the Jetstream 31 and BAe 146.
By the time Islander serial number 2317 took off from Bembridge on the Isle of White on Sept. 3, the 1,254th aircraft to be produced and the first in 58 years to be built from detail parts in the UK, the rugged commuter had become the only complete commercial aircraft still to be manufactured by the UK’s industry.
The modest Islander’s longevity is one story. Its production history is another. Airframes were built under subcontract in Bucharest from 1968 and brought to the Isle of Wight for completion and delivery. From 2009, the arrangement shifted to the delivery of major sub-assemblies for assembly in Bembridge.
However, Britten-Norman was forced to file for administration in March 2024 and was acquired by private-equity investors for a little over £1 million ($1.3 million) with the promise to inject new funding into the business.
That funding has backed a reshoring program that means the Islander is now produced in-house from raw material. The program has included investment in computer-controlled machining alongside tooling and other facilities.
“We now manufacture the detail parts and build up the airframe ourselves, which puts the build sequence, the tooling and the quality gates in our own hands,” the company said. Avionics are supplied by Garmin, piston engines by Lycoming and propellers by Hartzell.
Aircraft are built to customer order, but Britten-Norman plans production to a rate rather than starting a build only on receipt of an order. “That is what allows us to offer slots and shorter lead times, and the strategic ambition is eight aircraft a year,” the company said.
As for outstanding orders for UK-built Islanders, Britten-Norman says it holds letters of intent from operators in the regional passenger and special mission sectors. “First flight is the milestone those operators have been waiting for,” the company said, adding that its focus is to convert those commitments into contracts.
The nine-passenger Islander is available as the BN2B-20 and -26 with Lycoming engines and the BN2T with Rolls-Royce 250 turboprops. The Defender family, including the turboprop BN2T-4S, remains available for government and special mission operators.
Of the 1,254 aircraft delivered since 1967, approximately 350 remain in service across more than 70 countries, Britten-Norman said. Aircraft 2317 is destined for the Falkland Islands Government Air Service. A second airframe is progressing down the production line in Bembridge.
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