Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Xtra Large Bizjet Debuts At NBAA-BACE

Airbus has introduced a new class of business aircraft. The company has dubbed the corporate version of its A220 airliner the ‘Xtra Large Bizjet and it’s displaying the aircraft at the event for the first time.

Airbus says the plane, which is an adaptation of its popular 100- to 150- seat single-aisle airliner, offers almost as much range but twice the space of ultra-long-range bizjets at the same price.

But it also offers a 728-square-foot cabin with a king size bed and bathroom with a shower. Airbus claims its jet has lower operating and maintenance costs than the competition despite its size.

Source: AVWeb.com

Canadian Province Grants $10 Million To Public Benefit Aviation Group

The British Columbia government has given a $10 million grant to Hope Air, a volunteer organization that has provided tens of thousands of free flights, both on airliners and through a network of volunteer GA pilots, for people who have to travel to get the health care they need.

“Dealing with cancer is very hard—traveling to care should not be. This medical travel funding grant will be transformational in the lives of people in need in rural and remote communities throughout British Columbia,” said Mark Rubinstein, Chief Executive Officer at Hope Air.

Source: AVWeb.com

See also: Hopeair.ca

Air Inuit celebrates 45 years of operation. 

The Quebec-based airline is wholly owned by Makivik Corporation. Both entities were created in 1978 to serve the interests of Quebec’s Inuit people. Air Inuit operates a fleet of 24 aircraft and flies to 21 destinations.

In a press release dated July 3, 2023 the airline said they will be acquiring three B-737-800's that will be modified through the installation of cargo doors to create combination passenger/cargo aircraft.

The B-737-800's will be replacing some of their old Boeing 737-200's which are capable of operation from gravel runways, which the B-737-800's are not.

Other than the Boeing 737's, the company also operates numerous Twin Otters and Dash 8's, which will be used to service destinations incapable of receiving the B-737-800's.

Additional Info: nunatsiaq.com

Photo by Caribb @ www.flickr.com

C-GMAI - 45 year-old B-737-200

To remember that we are coming up to winter, here is the De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter C-FATM from Air Tindi.

It is seen on skis at the Yellowknife Seaplane base in the Northwest Territories on March 14, 2020. 

Source: Quebec Aerospace Museum newsletter

Photo by Pierre Gillard

The History of Air North. 

In 2017, Air North celebrated 40 years of operation.

Air North was founded in 1977 by Joe Sparling and Tom "Ace" Wood as Air North Charter and Training. The original intent was to offer charter flights to the mining industry and flight training services — but it didn't take long to grow beyond the original vision — and Joe can still be found in the cockpit more often than he is in the office.

Excerpt from:  www.flyairnorth.com

By the early 1980s, our fleet had grown from a single Cessna 206 to include a variety of aircraft on wheels, floats, and skis—until we acquired the famous and world-tested Douglas DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft.

Just over ten years later the Douglas aircraft were retired in favour of Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprops, and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation of Old Crow expressed an interest in investing in Air North.

The investment from the Vuntut Gwitchin made it possible a few years later, in 2002, for us to enter a whole new era with the purchase of two Boeing 737 jets.

In June of 2002, we began flying between Whitehorse and Vancouver, and also connected the Yukon to Alberta with flights to Calgary and Edmonton. Our growth was mirrored in new branding, as we adopted our current operating name: Air North, Yukon's Airline.

Since then, we've purchased more aircraft and modernized our fleet with Boeing 737-400 and -500 jets and ATR 42 turboprops.

Between 2013 and 2019 we added Kelowna, Yellowknife, Ottawa, Mayo and Victoria to our network.