On the last day 05, Aeroflap was present at the headquarters of Blue Connects, in Jundiaí (inland São Paulo), for the delivery event of yet another aircraft unit that is helping to build the sub-regional aviation segment in Brazil: the Cessna C208B Caravan monoturboprop, in its EX version.
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The event, which brought together the specialized press, spotters and the company's management, was marked by the expectation of receiving two units. However, one of the two aircraft scheduled to arrive on this date was detained in Confins (Minas Gerais) in order to finalize the bureaucratic import procedures, with its arrival in Jundiaí scheduled for the next few days.
The C208B Caravan is a single-engine utility turboprop manufactured by Cessna in Wichita, Kansas (United States) since 1982. Since its launch, Cessna has delivered more than 2.900 of this platform, which has already accumulated more than 24 million hours flown in over from 100 countries.
Out of curiosity, the EX version, like the one acquired by Azul Conecta, costs around 2 million dollars each. Currently, the subsidiary of Azul Linhas Aéreas has a single fleet of 500 Cargo Caravans and 3 configured for engers.
The PS-CNE, which will be named “Mascote Azul” is the sixth brand new Caravan being incorporated by Conecta, which placed an order with Cessna for ten Caravans, all in the EX configuration. In addition to the unit in Confins, Azul Conecta expects to receive 03 more units by the end of 2022.
These planes will allow the company to expand its network, which mostly operates at airports with less enger demand, which would not justify using the smaller planes that the parent company already uses, such as the ATR72.
In this context, the Caravan becomes an ideal platform, as it combines low acquisition costs, very low operating costs, ease of operation (not requiring much on the ground), and takeoffs and landings on short runways.
It is these, among other reasons, that allow Azul Conecta to have the capillarity it has today, since the company already regularly serves 18 cities in the North Region, 21 in the South Region, 9 in the West, 4 in the Northeast and 1 in the Southeast.
The new planes will allow for an even greater increase in the company's network and operational strategy, which is already experiencing a strong expansion, especially further to the north of the country. Thus, the Azul Linhas subsidiary will be able to explore markets that still lack air transport.
The company headquartered in Jundiaí has an operation that is practically different from the parent company, but which makes use of the Azul Linhas Aéreas reservation system. This means that the enger flying Azul Conecta is, in fact, a Azul Linhas Aéreas enger. Thus, after the enger buys his ticket on the parent company's website, the parent company “leases” the flight on Conecta so that it can transport this customer in the company's Caravans, paying the company later for this service.
This translates, among other things, into greater peace of mind for the enger, since they will have the of a large company in case there is any need involving their trip, such as guarantees in case of flight cancellation, for example.
The C208B CARAVAN EX
This EX version of the Caravan has a package of improvements aimed at increasing the profitability of operations and safety.
Among these improvements, leather interior, a more powerful engine (with its very traditional PT-6A-140 turbine with 867 shp of power, McCauley four-blade propeller, maximum cruising speed of up to 195 knots (although the average speed of operation ranges from 140 to 155 knots), 832 nautical miles range (FL100, full tank and 45-minute reserve) and Garmin's new G1000 NXi avionics suite.
This is typically the famous G1000, which was originally released in 2004, but with some new features, such as a new (more rounded) layout, better readability with LED-type backlighting and higher brightness; initialization of the screens in up to 10 seconds; greater processing power (such as faster zooming in and out); 15-inch MFD; possibility of performing a visual approach with the autopilot engaged; weather radar overlay on moving map; safe taxi; new terrain shading with improved contours, among other new features.
Internally, Conecta's new C208s are equipped with the company's typical configuration. There are 2 pilots and 9 enger seats, the rows on the right side with 2 unified seats and on the left with single seats.
An alternative that some Caravan operators in Brazil claim would be the change in the Brazilian aeronautical legislation in order to increase the maximum enger capacity of the Caravans that fly here from 9 to 11 places, as occurs in several other companies around the world, such as Barrier Air, from Nova Zealand, SkyTrans, from Australia or even the famous Suzy Air, from Indonesia, which has its Caravans configured for up to 12 engers.
This increase would allow for an increase in the profitability of the companies, and thus, encouraging the emergence of new sub-regions to serve more distant points in our country.
See more details of Caravan EX by Azul Conecta:
GoodYear Flight Custon III tire, 850 by 10, 8 ply, 140mph
Standby Instruments
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Micael Rocha was a flight instructor for four years, is a checker at aeroclubs and CIACs, has flown C525, C525B and C208B Caravan in air taxis and has been flying Cirrus SR22 since 2013.
@aeroereview
