- So I'm heading down to the south coast today
because today I'm taking a flight
on Britain's newest airline.
So welcome to Lee-on-Solent airport
here on the south coast of England.
It's not far from like Portsmouth and Southampton
and all the places along with south coast.
Anyway, the reason I'm here is because
there is a brand new airline on the scene here in the UK.
They're a tiny airline called Air Alderney,
and they operate a Britten-Norman Islander,
believe it or not, on flights between Alderney
and Shoreham airport which is near Brighton
a bit further along the coast.
But there's a reason that we are here
at Lee-on-Solent to take today's flight.
You see, Lee-on-Solent airfield is home to BN Aviation,
the manufacturer of the Britten-Norman Islander
and the last British aircraft manufacturer
that's still making commercial aircraft.
Well, they've invited me down to Lee-on-Solent today
to have a little look around their factory
where they make these things
before I go and get my ride on the Air Alderney Islander.
It's very versatile aircraft too, the Islander.
This one here has been fitted out
with all sorts of equipment on board
because it's being used to test autonomous flights,
like drones and things like that.
How cool is that?
Let's go and have a quick look inside.
So aside from the passenger version of this
which is usually kitted out with seats,
as you can see this one's got all sorts
of electronic equipment in it.
It's being used to test like drones
and stuff like that on these screens.
No idea.
It's all very clever tech, isn't it?
Thanks to the Islander that they can do this sort of thing
because of its sort of short take off
and landing capabilities.
The fact that it could fly so slow as well
is really handy for people,
and that's why I love these little rugged airplanes.
Britten-Norman's factory used to be
at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight.
But these days, the Bembridge plant manufactures spare parts
with airframe production taking place
here at Daedalus airport in Lee-on-Solent.
Britten-Norman manufactured over 1300 Islanders
that still see operation in every corner of the globe today.
Today they continue to be manufactured
with several brand new Islanders rolling out every year
here at Lee-on-Solent.
After my look around the Islander factory,
it was finally time to get on board one
and take my first flight with Britain's newest airline.
- Step one, Shepherd and Millicant please.
- [Noel] Okay.
- [Female Passenger] Is it loud?
- [Man] There's some ear plugs in there
you can put in your ears.
- [Noel] You should know this.
You work for them.
- [Female Passenger] I know.
I've never been in one though.
Work down in London all the time.
- The other person whose name begin with G.
I can't read my handwriting.
Watch your head.
- [Noel] Thank you.
- [Pilot] It's sharp.
Watch your head.
- [Noel] Yup.
- [Pilot] And then you guys are sitting in there.
- [Noel] Lovely, thank you very much.
- Okay. Hello, everybody.
Welcome aboard this Britten-Norman Islander.
Your attention is drawn to the safety card
in the seat in front of you.
This details the emergency exits, the brace position,
and how to put on your life jacket.
Emergency exits are one right at the back this side,
one in the middle here this side,
one at the front my door here.
You may notice that some of the windows
have a giant red handle on them as well.
If for some reason the doors won't open,
you pull the red handle to pop out the window.
So please do not pull the red handle for any other reason.
In the unlikely event of a water landing,
under your seat we have a life jacket.
Seatbelt sign is up here.
If the seatbelt sign is illuminated,
please keep your seatbelt on.
It will whiff the entire flight
just 'cause, you know, there's no need
to get up and walk around.
No smoking, no vaping on board or anywhere on the airport
apart from in designated areas.
Apart from that, any questions?
- Nope. - No.
- Okay.
- All good. - Let's go.
- All right, so airborne from Lee-on-Solent
on board Air Alderney.
What a cool experience this is.
Flying on the little Islander.
Love these planes.
They're so flipping cool.
Air Alderney are actually gonna be flying
this aircraft commercially on scheduled flights
from Alderney to airports all across the south of England.
From Biggin Hill, Shoreham, and they're actually hoping
to get a Trislander as well pretty soon as well,
which is the one the three engine version of the Islander
which got the engine on the tail as well.
Cannot wait to get a ride on that.
Today we're just taking a little flight out
over the Isle of Wight, which we can see
the Isle of Wight just down below us.
Now we've taken off on a little flight out of Lee-on-Solent.
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Air Alderney currently have two Islanders in their fleet,
both of them based at Biggin Hill.
They're planning to operate scheduled flights
between Biggin Hill, Shoreham, and Lydd
to the channel islands of Alderney, Guernsey, and Jersey,
and are hoping to add a Trislander to their fleet
For now, Air Alderney is still working on
getting the license to operate their scheduled routes.
They're hoping to get this later in 2022.
In the meantime, they're operating charter flights
such as this one throughout the summer months,
as well as sight seeing flights
at airports around the country.
I really would like to see air Air Alderney
succeed on their Channel Islands routes.
The ability to connect small towns
across the south coast with the Channel Islands
is something that's been missing for quite some time,
and I can't wait to get a ride on a Trislander
when they start flights later in the year too.
I've taken quite a few flights on Islanders over the years,
and I really do love them.
They're like a flying Land Rover.
It doesn't matter how remote and rugged your destination is,
the Islander makes light work of it.
To me, there's nothing like landing
on some remote gravel air strip on a Scottish island
onboard one of these little rugged machines
that simply isn't fazed by anything at all
that Mother Nature throws at it.
The fact that airlines like Air Alderney
continue to start up operating these aircraft
is testament to what an incredible machine it really is.
It might not be luxurious, it's certainly not glamorous,
and it's not going to take you very far either.
But one thing is for sure,
get a ride on an Islander and I guarantee
that you will have some of the most
enjoyable flights of your life.
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for helping to make these videos possible.
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- [Female Passenger] So fun.
- [Pilot] Okay, we are here.
- [Male Passenger] Really?
- [Noel] Yeah, there we go.
Thank you. Found it.
Thank you very much.
- [Staff] Watch your head there.
- [Noel] Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.
Thanks very much.
- [Staff] You're welcome.
All right, so back on the ground at Lee-on-Solent
after my amazing little flight in this little thing,
and I'm about to take a flight back home now
in this little thing, Oscar Mike.
I've had a brilliant time flying on Air Alderney
and having a look around the Britten-Norman plant
down here at Lee-on-Solent.
All very, very cool indeed.
And yeah, when they start flying,
get yourself on one of these little Islanders
across to Alderney.
Very, very cool.
In the meantime, I just wanna say
thanks so much for watching.
As always, take care and I'll see you on the next one.
Bye for now.