New Lease of Life For Nomad

As the largest civilian operator of the GAF Nomad twin turboprop aircraft in the world, the New Zealand-based scenic flight company Air Safaris sent a representative to Australia in June to attend the official handover by Boeing of the Nomad’s Type Certificate to its new owner, Gippsland Aeronautics.

Air Safaris has worked closely with Boeing Australia’s Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA—previously Australian Government Aircraft Factory [GAF]) in ongoing support of the type, which has been a reliable and extremely effective aircraft in Air Safaris’ service.

The sale of the Type Certificate to GAF included technical and spares support, and all intellectual property for the aircraft.

Had Gippsland (or another company) not taken over the Nomad programme, it would have meant the end of the type in service worldwide and been a significant blow for Air Safaris, for which the Nomad forms a cornerstone of its operation.

Instead, as a result of independent research it commissioned, Gippsland Aeronautics believes there is a market for as many as 400 new “Next-Generation” Nomads over the next 10 years.

Following the official handover presentation of the Type Certificate, Gippsland announced a launch customer for a “new” Nomad—the Curry-Kenny Aviation Group, which is Australia’s largest private aviation operator. Grant Kenney, the principal of the Currey-Kenney Group, said he was pleased to be the launch customer for the new aircraft and he described the Nomad as being ideal for aspects of his operation.

Tim Rayward, Air Safaris’ representative at the ceremony, said ASTA had consistently provided outstanding support for operators of the Nomad, especially considering the small numbers in service worldwide, and he was full of praise for staff at ASTA.

Air Safaris is already a Gippsland customer and also operates Gippsland GA-8 Airvans in tourist operations in New Zealand. Rayward said Air Safaris expects to receive a similarly high standard of service from Gippsland for the Nomads as it has always received from ASTA.

Gippsland Aeronautics’ chairman, Gary Wight, said that Gippsland is “committed to continuing the high standard of support that Boeing has delivered to existing Nomad operators around the world.”

When questioned at length by Gippsland as to what aspects of the Nomad might require improvement in its new version, Rayward surprised the company with what he describes as “a very short list”, and said there was very little that needed changing.

Rayward told Pacific Wings: “I am thrilled that the Nomad is getting a fresh lease of life from this vibrant and innovative aircraft manufacturer. As an operator, we could not have hoped for a better result.”