De Havilland Canada CEO Brian Chafe (left) and flybig chairman and managing director Sanjay Mandavia sign an LOI for the Indian airline to acquire 10 Twin Otter Classic 300-Gs.
PARIS–Indian operator flybig has been revealed as another customer for De Havilland Canada’s new Twin Otter Classic 300-G variant, signing an LOI to acquire 10 of the of the 19-seat twin turboprop.
The Classic 300-G was unveiled at the Paris Air Show June 19, when De Havilland Canada said it had 45 purchase agreements and LOIs for the new variant without specifying customers.
Flybig’s LOI is on top of the unnamed agreements and the airline has also signed a purchase agreement to acquire two Twin Otter Series 400s. It will be the first operator of that version in India. The airline has a fleet of three ATR 72 regional turboprops.
India’s air connectivity is rapidly expanding under the government’s UDAN regional airport project, which aims to improve air services to underserved regions.
“Twin Otters are the perfect aircraft for India’s UDAN regional airport development program, part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for improving underserviced air routes and connecting tier 2 and tier 3 communities,” flybig chairman and managing director Sanjay Mandavia said.
The airline aims to increase its network to multiple north India destinations.
