Return of the Albatross

A new variant of the Grumman G-111T Albatross flying boat will be built in Darwin by Amphibian Aerospace Industries. Its CEO, Dan Webster, tells Hannah Dowling why it makes more sense than you’d think

Great to speak with you Dan! The Albatross is a really unique aircraft. To start us off, can you tell me in your own words what you see as sort of the key selling point of the next generation albatross, and what drew you to the project?

You’re right about it being a unique aircraft because it will be the only FAA-certified flying boat with more than 19 seats, globally, when it’s running. Plus, the commercial work that we’ve done, will actually provide a better business case to an operator that’s trying to operate off the water. The key thing for anyone who’s operating flying boats or seaplanes is they operate in rather unique environments and on routes which you can’t get to any other way. So being able to increase the capacity that you can put through one of these routes is a significant thing, particularly if you can do it at a reasonable cost.