Waves Technologies has placed an order for a Cessna Grand Caravan EX utility turboprop. The aircraft is expected to be delivered in the next few months and will support the launch of Waves' on-demand air taxi service for the Channel Islands.

The Guernsey-based flight service is set to launch in August and will use an online reservation system that will allow customers to book flights in real-time.

“We are very excited to be working closely with Textron Aviation,” says Waves CEO Nick Magliocchetti. “The support and encouragement has been priceless. The Grand Caravan EX is the perfect choice for our inter-island air taxi service and the positive feedback it has received during our demos across the islands has been outstanding. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship together.”

Tom Perry, Textron vice president of sales, Europe, adds: “We are thrilled Waves has chosen the robust Grand Caravan EX platform to launch this exciting new air taxi service. We are confident that the aircraft, with its ability to land on short runways, carry high payloads and take on nearly any mission with efficiency and simplicity, will provide Waves and its customers a dependable and comfortable experience.”

Technology is at the heart of Waves' business, as COO Matt Bisson explains: “At the moment there are problems with local infrastructure and there has been a huge drop in inter-island travel, particularly between Guernsey and Jersey. It is a market that needs reinvigorating with the right equipment.

“We will use technology to drive demand. In terms of the aircraft choice, the change in SET-IMC regulations that has happened this year has been significant. We are lucky that an amazing group of people have been able to get together, combining aircraft ops, technology and sales. It's a perfect storm that we are embracing.”

The 2-REG registry in Guernsey, which started issuing AOCs in March 2016, has also assisted Waves, and Vector Aircraft Services handled CAMO during the AOC application. “We have been able to work incredibly quickly with 2-REG to create our own AOC,” Bisson continues. “It is the only regulator out there that can move as quickly as this within the commercial sphere. Our AOC application is well progressed, and we only started it in January. We could only do that with a small regulator that's very nimble and pragmatic, and willing to assist.

“The Caravan is the perfect choice in terms of purchase price and oper-ating costs, and the routes we have. It is short range and has a beautiful interior that can be taken out in less than 30 minutes and equipped for freight or air ambulance duties.”

Magliocchetti believes that his software has wider uses in business aviation. “I think that the industry is going to really welcome it. If you look at the technology that is currently being used in aviation, it is principally for booking platforms. We have taken several different types of technology and rolled them all into one, the main one being a booking platform that communicates directly with the passenger, as if you are on WhatsApp with the client, telling them where their aircraft is, when the next one is arriving and so on. We then have a second piece of technology for the passenger, with all the check-in process, another for the pilot and another for major online corporate bookings and travel desks. All of this together is a unique offering on a technological level.

“Uber has done us a massive favour in proving that this technology works. It thought large-scale and thought of the technology as a wider model, based on demand.”