RUAG has handed over the second Dornier 228NG regional turboprop at a ceremony at its Oberpfaffenhofen, Bavaria, plant.
The aircraft has been acquired by Norwegian customer Lufttransport, which will operate it from Longyearben, the main settlement on the Spitsbergen archpelago deep in the Arctic Circle, to several remote airfields - several unpaved - on the islands.
The flights will handle both passenger and cargo traffic to the remote outposts, with the Norwegian Coastguard, polar research company Kings Bay and a Norwegian coalmining company among the main customers. Tromso-based Lufttransport already operates two Do 228s from the original production run of the 19-seat aircraft.
The carrier is the first European operator of the new-generation Do 228, which features a glass cockpit, more powerful engines and five-bladed composite propellors among a long list of improvements over the original design.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news