The L 410 NG journey across continents
On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, the L 410 NG aircraft, registration no. 5001 (OK-JRP) after intensive preparation left from Kunovice Airport for the long journey to Asia. Over the next seven weeks, the plane landed on 3 continents. The first of the three main targets was the INDO DEFENCE exhibition in Jakarta.
In three days, the aircraft traveled 2,868 km. A total of 12,221 km long journey and landings in 8 countries on 3 continents awaited him in the first stage. The total flight time of 39 hours was planned for 6 days.
On Saturday, October 29, the crew arrived in India, then a 2,767 km journey to Penang, Malaysia awaited them.
On the last day of October 2022, the L 410 NG crew arrived at the first destination of their journey and successfully landed in Jakarta!
INDO DEFENCE 2022
On days 2.-5. November 2022, the industry fair INDO DEFENCE 2022 was held in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which is one of the most important of its kind in Southeast Asia, with a tradition since 2004. Traditionally, the organizer of the event was the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia. Since it was an event where it was possible to meet important representatives of both the military and private aviation sectors, our participation in the fair was crucial in introducing ourselves, reaching out and engaging new potential customers in the given territory. That's why we actively participated on behalf of Aircraft Industries at the fair for the entire duration of it, including the L 410 NG aircraft, which was located at Halim Airport in Jakarta for static demonstrations.
The program was very busy and dynamic and the interest in the L 410 NG was high. Every day crowds and various delegations gathered by the aircraft, with genuine interest in viewing it and learning more information about it. We were pleasantely surprised with so much interest.
We evaluate the overall participation in the exhibition very positively. It is really important for our company to participate in world exhibitions physically and, at best, directly with the L 410 aircraft, because it gives us the opportunity to better present it to the local audience and showcase its qualities. At the same time, personal contact with possible future operators enables us to better understand their needs and wishes, to which we can respond directly and offer them such modifications and modifications of the aircraft that will be most suitable for operation in the given territory.
After the end of the INDO DEFENCE exhibition, the crew with the plane was still in Jakarta and made presentation flights for interested parties.
L 410 and the crew slowly said goodbye to Jakarta and on Sunday, November 27, they moved to Kuala Lumpur. The very next day, representatives of the Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur were on board the L 410.
At the beginning of December 2022, the L 410 moved to Hanoi and was preparing for the Vietnam Defense 2022 exhibition, which was held from 08 to 10 December and was the first year of this exhibition.
Participation in Vietnam Defence 2022
We participated in the exhibition as part of the Omnipol Group joint stand. In addition to the stand, the L 410 NG itself was presented at the exhibition, with which the crew flew in from their last location in Kuala Lumpur. On the first day, a ceremonial opening took place, which included an impressive flight demonstration (techniques/equipment) of the Vietnamese army. Many foreign delegations, representatives of the local media and visitors stopped by us, among others, the Vietnamese Minister of Defense, Army General Phan Van Giang, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Defense and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Hanoi, honored us with a visit to the stand.
The Vietnam Defence Expo was behind us and the L 410 was preparing to go home with the entire crew after a month and a half.
The journey from Vietnam to Kunovice was through Bangladesh, India, Oman, Egypt and Greece.
And after seven weeks, on snowy Thursday, December 15, 2022, we happily celebrated the return of entire crew back in Kunovice.
Route L 410 in numbers:
51 days
22 years
26,141 kilometers
83 hours and 2 minutes in the air
12 countries and 3 continents!
