Viking, the Canadian manufacturer of the Twin Otter Series 400, is celebrating securing its latest national approval.

Brazil’s certification authority ANAC this week gave the green light for the 19-seat turboprop, a modern version of the de Havilland Canada DHC-6, to be operated there.

Brazil will be the latest Latin American market for the Vancouver Island-based company, which supports a fleet of about 20 aircraft in the region. Its biggest market is Peru, wher the air force uses 12 amphibian Twin Otters to provide essential services to remote Amazon communities.

“We feel there is a great potential in Brazil,” says David Caporali, sales director for Latin America. Among the targets for Viking’s new sales agency in the country, International Jet Traders, will be regional airlines – the government is looking at subsidising new remote air routes – and the country’s air force: Brazil operates a fleet of ageing Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirantes.

It has been a significant year for privately owned Viking, which in July acquired the rights to Bombardier’s CL-415 water bomber programme. The amphibian aircraft is the only Western type specifically designed for fire fighting.

Viking launched the Series 400 in 2007, and has sold more than 150 to operators in 29 countries.