Venice, Italy. 20 March 2024. Today, at the “Future Opportunities for Seaplanes & Amphibious Aviation” Conference in Venice, Mallard Enterprises announces the signing of the latest Letter of Intent, (LOI) for four (4) ME-1A Amphibious Aircraft with Skylinks Aviation of Goa, India, bringing Mallard Enterprises cumulative backlog to US$250M.
The ME-1A is a multi-purpose regional amphibious airplane, which can land and take off from land or water, with a standard seating capacity of 19 passengers offering low emissions, low noise pollution, faster speed, and lower operating costs on short-haul routes. It will have a range of 350 nautical miles (648 kilometres) with 19 passengers and luggage and an extended range of 1050 nautical miles (1945 kilometres) with six passengers all including typical airline reserves.
“We see a vast potential to operate ME-1A amphibious aircraft and are quite confident that this is the aircraft of the future for India as most of the terrain is exposed to water {sea and rivers). There is substantial growth of the middle class population and a very low cost of infrastructure needed to support the introduction and sustainability of ME-1A amphibious aircraft of Mallard Enterprises in India”, said Jagdish Kotecha, CEO, Skylinks Aviation.
“We’re excited to support Skylinks Aviation in their efforts to grow the last mile regional air travel with amphibious aircraft in India”, said Dan Peabody, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Mallard Enterprises. “The ME-1A, with its competitive economics, amphibious capability, and green credentials, fits very well with Skylinks Aviation’s vision, and we see not only the opportunity to reconnect many existing regional routes, but also open many more new ones. We believe this transformation will be good for the people of India, good for the economy as well as for the environment,” said Mohan Chunduri, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Mallard Enterprises.
