BuyantUkhaa From Mongolia, joined May 2004, 2777 posts, RR: 3 Posted (5 years 1 month 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 4554 times:
Previous thread described how the Lisbon-Vila Real-Bragança connection was shut down after Aerocondor lost its AOC and PSO contract. The Portuguese government will now soon open a new tender for the service between Lisbon and the Northeast of Portugal. Since this tender process will take some time, the government directly granted a temporary contract in order to reestablish the air link. They approach four airlines, of which two made a bid. The winning one, with a price 35% below the competitor, is Aeronorte, a small airline based in Braga that has two private jets, some firefighting planes and crop dusters, as can be seen at www.aeronorte.pt
In order to operate this service they will use L410! See this article:
This would very strange as they do not own any of those planes, and nearly all airlines who do are based in Africa or the former Soviet Union. Capacity-wise the L410 is very similar to the D228 that operated previously, but the fact that INAC even needed to certify the L410 (as none had been registered in Portugal) does make this a surprising choice, to say the least.
This article mentions that the choice of Aeronorte created a stir, because on the same day that the deal was announced, the Portuguese competition authority imposed a EUR200.000 fine on Aeronorte for price fixing in the firefighting helicopter (rental) market. The new contract will be worth about EUR1m.
Interesting times. I have to admit my first association with the Turbolet is always this picture:
Vfw614 From Germany, joined Dec 2001, 3582 posts, RR: 5 Reply 3, posted (5 years 1 month 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 4423 times:
Quoting BuyantUkhaa (Thread starter): his would very strange as they do not own any of those planes, and nearly all airlines who do are based in Africa or the former Soviet Union. Capacity-wise the L410 is very similar to the D228 that operated previously, but the fact that INAC even needed to certify the L410 (as none had been registered in Portugal) does make this a surprising choice, to say the least.
Manx2.com is fairly successful operating the LET410 on routes from the Isle Of Man to destinations in the UK, so maybe that was an inspiration. Another European operator with scheduled flights is Avies from Estonia (unless their LET has been replaced by now with a Jetstream).
Treg From Estonia, joined Oct 2001, 534 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (5 years 1 month 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 4258 times:
Quoting Vfw614 (Reply 3): Another European operator with scheduled flights is Avies from Estonia (unless their LET has been replaced by now with a Jetstream).
Not any more. All flights are with Jetstreams. I guess that their LET is used for daily DHL TLL-HEL cargo runs + ad hoc charters.
Francoflier From France, joined Oct 2001, 3195 posts, RR: 10 Reply 5, posted (5 years 1 month 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 4225 times:
The LET 410 is a great 19 seater aircraft. It's sturdy and cheap to operate.
The fact that it is cheap to aquire and operate is actually the reason it got its bad reputation in the first place, since it is an aircraft of choice for many third world operators who gave it less than adequate mx and gave their pilots less than adequate training, flying into some of the harshest conditions around.
Great to see it gaining some momentum in western Europe...
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit posting...
Beaucaire From Syria, joined Sep 2003, 5252 posts, RR: 26 Reply 6, posted (5 years 1 month 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 4198 times:
I never understod why the Let-410 is so rarely used on shorter regional applications ?
None of the "established" western airlines use the aircraft,although in my opinion one could achieve a quite good seatmile-cost. For trunks of less than 500 miles,it would make a lot of economic sense.What's the price of a new Let 410 ?
Francoflier From France, joined Oct 2001, 3195 posts, RR: 10 Reply 7, posted (5 years 1 month 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 4176 times:
Quoting Beaucaire (Reply 6): What's the price of a new Let 410 ?
I believe the LET factory (whoever owns it these days) doesn't build them from the ground up anymore, but instead rebuilds old UVP airframes, of which there are hundreds lying around, from the ground up into 'new' UVP-E20 models, which are JAR and FAR certified.
Don't quote me on the price, but I believe less than US$ 2.0 Million will get you a '0 hours' E-20 from the factory. A steal, really.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit posting...
It's a wet-lease, but with a Portuguese co-pilot, the first test flight on the route will be made next Thursday. They'll receive a second plane as a backup. The article does not say what company the planes are coming from but states "they are licensed to operate in the EU."
Quoting Vfw614 (Reply 3): Manx2.com is fairly successful operating the LET410 on routes from the Isle Of Man to destinations in the UK, so maybe that was an inspiration.
It actually turns out that the very same plane flew some of the Manx2 flights.
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