The fact is there are 80,000 odd passengers to be picked up by someone that are currently carried on the heli service. The immediate answer to me is to ramp up the number of rotations on Twotters and Islanders to plug the gap. If there are 80,000 pax for the taking then believe me someone will respond to the need. Everyone is going on about how 'old' they are but the fact is there are hundreds of Islands and mountain locked communtities that have aircraft like Twotters,Islanders,D228's and Let 410's as their link with the outside world. You start using aircraft above 19 seats and they come into the NASP and you have to have oodles of security kit and staff to handle a couple of Dash 8's a day and I can't see that being particularly cost efficient either.
TT