Scheduled and charter airline, Maya Island Air, operating in tropical Belize, Central America, will soon have two GA8 Airvans in its fleet with the company's second Airvan to arrive by ship in June. 

Maya Island Air sought out the GA8 Airvan to expand its fleet of aircraft to meet the ever increasing tourism demand in Belize.  David Huber of Maya Island Air said the company needed to replace the Cessna 207s it was operating which he claimed were out of production and certified to out-of-date standards.

"The cost of operation of this aircraft was increasing with no value added benefit and this was where the Airvan excelled. The GA8 Airvan has a real world useful load.  An operator is buying useful load when purchasing an aircraft and the GA8 value per pound is outstanding.  Also Gippsland Aeronautics use of the KISS principle is evident throughout the construction of the aircraft which means ease of maintenance and lower operating costs," he said.

"The flight characteristics are very 'pilot friendly' especially when fully loaded - our pilots report a new sense of confidence at maximum gross weight in our hot, humid short runway length operations.

"The Airvan copes well with the 'bush' standard runways of Belize, most of which have prevailing crosswinds.  The tropical, hot, humid climate does not favour tweaky, touchy performing aircraft and the Airvan's flight characteristics which are simple and rugged in design cater perfectly to our needs," Mr Huber continued. 

The Airvan is being used for Maya Island Air's regular passenger scheduled operations which Mr Huber said is "making low capacity flights more profitable than using the Cessna Caravan."  It is also providing a new level of passenger comfort for charter sight seeing activities.

"The cabin capacity of the GA8 was an unexpected surprise.  The seating comfort exceeds any aircraft in this class, and in some cases is better than larger more expensive aircraft.  Passenger visibility is the best of any aircraft in our fleet including our Cessna Caravans and noise levels in the cabin are close to our Caravans.  The acceptance of this 'small' aircraft by our customers has been outstanding with requests for charter worthy of note," he said. 

For Maya Island the Airvan is the essence of value for money.

"The aircraft in a very short period of time has proven to be an invaluable part of our operations.  When the aircraft is in for inspection, customers who would normally fly the GA8 and are placed in the Cessna 172 or 207 ask for the Airvan.  Compared to the Cessna 208B we operate, as cost comparison of available seat mile is very reasonable."    
 

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