Story ID: 417
Twin Otter Racks Up Hours and Sales
By: David Donald
Caption: Viking Air, which has now sold Twin Otters in 30 countries, has seen strong interest in the type in the Asia-Pacific region.
Word Count: 193
Canada’s Viking Air (Chalet CD45), manufacturer of the Twin Otter Series 400 utility aircraft, has experienced strong interest in the utility twin turboprop in the Asia-Pacific region. The company provides complete flight and maintenance training and recently put into service a Level D full-flight simulator. Viking Air's maintenance training programs last year received EASA Part 147 approval.

The largest commercial operator of the Viking Twin Otter, MASWings, has recently passed 40,000 flight hours with its fleet of six Viking-built aircraft. The Malaysia Airlines subsidiary flies regional services in Sabah and Sarawak and has flown the original DHC-built "legacy" Twin Otter for more than 30 years. The Viking-built Series 400s entered service in 2013, equipped with the Honeywell Primus Apex digital avionics suite.

Another long-time operator of legacy Twin Otters, United Energy Pakistan, has signed to buy a Viking Series 400 for delivery in the second quarter of this year. It will be used to support base camps that feature unpaved strips from the headquarters in Karachi, with local representative Nash Aerotradings assisting in developing operational airstrips. With this sale, Pakistan becomes the 30th country in which Viking has sold Twin Otter 400s.