“The flying parameters of the airplane (required flying speed interval, maximum flying height, flying time and extent) make it very suitable for taking aerial photos and monitoring. The aircraft needs to be rebuilt and refurbished before work with mapping and monitoring equipment will be possible and Air Alliance has the experience required for such work. Among other things, this company has also prepared the Grand Caravan research airplane for the German Aerospace Centre DLR,” said Adviser of the Land Board Peep Krusberg, who was also the chairman of the commission of the public procurement organised for purchase of the aircraft. The price of the aircraft is 1,568,827 euros (24.5 million kroons). “This is a big and important purchase, which we have planned for a long time and which has been thoroughly analysed,” confirmed Acting Director General of the Land Board Raivo Vallner. He added that the public procurement was won by the tender with the best price and quality ratio, which was also the cheapest in terms of the total price and direct operating costs. One hour of taking aerial photos with its own aircraft is estimated to cost the Land Board up to three times less than it has currently been paying for outsourcing this service and four times less than the cheapest offer made by Estonian companies. Other institutions belonging to and operating under the administration of the Ministry of the Environment (Environmental Inspectorate, State Forest Management Centre, etc.) and other agencies can use the airplane for fulfilment of their tasks (mapping, monitoring). “It is important that for the first, Estonia will have the possibility to quickly map accident sites, such as oil spillages, forest fires, etc.,” added Krusberg. The aircraft should be ready and arrive in Estonia by the end of this year at the latest. The Land Board is not planning to develop its own aviation structure, so it will order the operation of the airplane from aviation companies who hold the relevant licenses. German company Air Alliance GmbH is the official distributor of aircraft manufacturer Cessna Aircraft Co in Germany and the European Union. Apart from Germany, Cessna Grand Caravan is successfully used for taking aerial photos also in Spain. Cessna Grand Caravan was first manufactured in 1990 and the number of such airplanes produced so far, including the standard version Cessna Caravan, is 1600. A total of three companies submitted their tenders by the deadline – the aforementioned German Company, CB Aircraft Sp. z.o.o. from Poland and Swiss company Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Visit the website www.airliners.net to see what a Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan, which is used to take aerial photos, looks like. Further information: Agnes Jürgens, 9.08.2007 |
