Cessna Aircraft Company (Wichita Cessna Aircraft Field) has signed a firm order agreement with JoyAir (JR, Xi'an Xianyang) for twenty Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravan EX Amphibian aircraft. The order was first announced in November last year at the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai.
As such, the turboprops are expected to begin arriving later this year out of the company’s joint venture facility, Cessna-AVIC Aircraft (Shijiazhuang) Co., Ltd.
Joy Air, which already owns two Grand Caravan EX Amphibians, will use the additional aircraft for commuter flights between coastal areas including Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Yunnan province, and also for air tours and charter flights.
Beijing recently lifted a ban on low-altitude commercial flights, making seaplane travel a viable method of transportation in many of China’s coastal and riparian cities.
In June, Harbour Air Seaplanes (YB, Vancouver Coal Harbour) announced a strategic partnership with China’s Zongshen Industrial Group Co., Ltd. to export the Canadian operator's seaplane services to major cities throughout China.
Other Chinese operators to order Amphibious aircraft include Meiya Air (Sanya) which plans to use its Cessna aircraft on sightseeing flights over Wuzhizhou Island near Sanya, and Reignwood Star Aviation (VGB, Zhuhai) which will use its fleet of sixty amphibians (ten Cessnas and fifty DHC-6-400s ordered from Viking Air (VKN, Victoria International)) to expand its services and operate tourism flights in southeastern China.
