Channel Island Caravan operator Waves has received its AOC from 2-REG in Guernsey and is moving towards fully fledged operations. “The AOC application was a tough one,” states CEO Nick Magliocchetti. “The 2-REG process is not easy and it put us through our paces, but we got through. We have got a great team who worked on it and everything was completed in record time. We are excited to get in the air and fly our passengers.

“All of our processes are now being honed. We are not going to go into full blown commercial operations yet because we need to carry out tests to see what our processes look like and how robust they are. That is what the next few weeks is all about. Once we have done that and ironed out all the niggles, we will proceed. The market is there for us. People have been in touch and are telling us why they have not been using certain carriers over the past few years. Some have businesses on two islands and have stopped going to see their clients altogether.” In early October Waves commenced a soft launch of the service between Guernsey and Jersey, transporting friends and family.

Waves promotes itself as a technology-led, on-demand air taxi company. “We are tech-savvy,” continues Magliocchetti. “We can apply technology to existing aviation infrastructure, to test it and get results, and to help the industry as a whole. Where we innovate, we can license our technology. Where we are going? Considering the environment that we have, we could test any form of new technology, including booking systems and other processes. We can then feed back, innovate and develop it ourselves.

“The Channel Islands is the home base of what we are doing. We will have a successful airline flying inter-island. We will be operating into Europe and the UK as well, and will be able to lift and mirror this technology in other parts of the world.”

The company is starting out with one Caravan and has another unit arriving in a few weeks. A third is set to follow before the end of December. Magliocchetti considers three aircraft optimal for this service.