Barrie Baxter, Nick Magliocchetti and Matt Bisson of Waves Technologies with Textron Aviation’s Steve McKenna

Waves gets soft launch underway

Guernsey-based on-demand air taxi service Waves Technologies has started the soft launch of its passenger service following receipt of its AOC from the island's air registry 2-Reg. It is now undertaking flights between Guernsey and Jersey on a Cessna Grand Caravan for what it describes as 'friends and family' to enable it to check every stage of the operation from booking and boarding to flying and disembarking.

It has created its own pre-flight security technology based on a membership scheme called Club Waves. All passengers are required to complete a pre-flight identity authentication and security check prior to their first booking and the information is kept securely for future flights. On boarding, passengers verify their identity using their smart- phone, which reduces check-in times to just 15 minutes. And since every flight will have two pilots, one will do the pre-boarding security check while the other readies the plane for departure.

The technology will also allow the company to communicate quickly and easily with passen-gers. “If there is fog then we can let passengers know not to come,” says CEO Nick Magliocchetti. “We're in final testing of our booking system and our security app as well as ensuring that our pilots are fully trained.”