Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

First Flying Company of Osaka Japan has signed a purchase agreement with Canada’s Viking Air (Chalet CD35) covering a pair of Twin Otter Series 400 turboprops, <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2013-10-22/viking-air-delivers-first-wipaire-outfitted-twin-otter">marking the first placement of the latest Twin Otter generation in Japan</a>.


The contract calls for the Twin Otters to come configured as standard 19-seat commercial landplanes. Expecting delivery in early 2015, First Flying plans to press the airplanes into service on domestic service in Okinawa and throughout the Ryukyu Islands in the southernmost region of Japan.


A regional carrier and flying club based at Yao Airport in Osaka, First Flying operates a mix of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft for sightseeing, aerial survey and flight training services between Yao Airport and Hiroshima Heliport.


“We are happy to be bringing the Twin Otter Series 400 to Japan again, as it has been approximately eight years since the last Series 300 Twin Otter retired from the Japanese sky,” said First Flying president Masanobu Nishikawa. “Our company has put forward considerable effort to maintain the routes among the Ryukyu Islands in Okinawa, and the addition of our new Series 400 aircraft will enable us to develop new routes and bring more passengers and cargo to the area.”


In Southeast Asia, Viking has sold Series 400 Twin Otters to customers in nine countries. One of the largest customers–the Vietnam Navy–late last year received the first of an order for six. Malaysia’s MAS Wings, which also has ordered six of the airplanes, expects to take its fourth and fifth within the next six weeks. Delivery of the fifth MAS Wings airplane will mark the completion of the 50th Viking-produced Twin Otter.

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