Alaskan air charter operator Kenai Aviation took delivery of its second Tecnam P2012 Traveller on Thursday at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo. This handover comes one year after the company accepted its first 11-seat piston twin from Tecnam at Sun ‘n Fun 2022.
The company put its first P2012 in service in April last year on six scheduled, short-route round-trips (12 flights total) each weekday from its hub at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC)—eight flights to/from Kenai Municipal Airport (PAEN) and four to/from Homer Airport (PAHO), Kenai Aviation CEO and owner Joel Caldwell told AIN. In less than a year, he said the Tecnam high-wing airplane, which can carry nine passengers, has logged 1,500 flight hours.
Kenai Aviation previously used a Cessna Caravan for these routes, but Caldwell said the short flight segments quickly cycle out the PT6A engine. Thus, he said these routes are ideal for a cabin-class piston twin such as the P2012 because scheduled maintenance of the airplane’s Lycoming iE2 TEO-540-C1A engines is based only on flight hours, not cycles.
According to Caldwell, the second P2012 will allow the company to add service on weekends—a top request from customers—and more midweek flights. Over the past year, Kenai Aviation used weekends for 100-hour inspections on its sole P2012. Caldwell said these routine maintenance events can now be staggered among the two P2012s—Friday/Saturday for one airplane and Sunday/Monday for the other—allowing seven-day-a-week service.
“We have finally found an aircraft that is perfectly suited for our commuter markets in Alaska. The P2012, designed specifically to meet the needs of our scheduled commuter markets in South Central Alaska, has exceeded our expectations,” Caldwell said.