World’s Slowest Scheduled Airliner, the Flying Land Rover, Returns Home

The Britten-Norman Islander has never offered luxury or speed. Its cabin seats no more than nine passengers, and its reputation rests instead on ruggedness and its ability to operate where larger aircraft cannot.

Often described as a flying Land Rover, the twin-engine aircraft can use grass, gravel and other unpaved runways. The piston-engine version needs only 189 meters of runway to take off and 140 meters to stop after landing. The article calls it the likely slowest twin-engine airliner in the world, but speed is not its purpose.

The Islander has been built for about 60 years. Its production began at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, across from Southampton in southern England, but aircraft-body construction moved to Romania in the late 1960s. Only final assembly remained on the island.

After several changes of ownership, manufacturer Britten-Norman returned to its roots. It opened a new assembly plant at the old production site three years ago, and all Islanders are now being built there. The first new aircraft was completed in August and made its maiden flight on September 3.

The aircraft will be delivered to the regional government of the Falkland Islands, which belong to the United Kingdom. The Islander is available in passenger and cargo versions, as an ambulance aircraft, for aerial surveillance and in a VIP configuration. Its return comes as the company seeks to launch a new production series despite growing competition.