What we doSpecial Missions
Built for jobs that don't come with a manual.
Surveillance, survey and other unusual work, with aircraft modified in-house.
The short version
We take a Twin Otter, integrate the mission system in our own hangar, certify it, crew it, maintain it and fly it, for as long as the contract runs. One company, one set of approvals, one phone number.
Key facts
- Twin Otters leased to the Danish Home Guard
- 3
- Flown in the first year, on about 150 missions
- ~1,000 h
- Length of the lease, signed in 2023
- 8 years
- Modification, certification, crew, maintenance, CAMO
- In-house
Proof
Case in point: Denmark
In April 2023 the Danish Ministry of Defence awarded Zimex an eight-year lease for two DHC-6-300 surveillance aircraft. We modified them at Altenrhein and integrated Airborne Technologies' Airborne LINX system: sensors plus an operator workstation. The aircraft entered service in 2024 as Hugin and Munin. In their first year they flew about 1,000 hours on 150 missions for the police, defence, Frontex and NATO's Baltic Sentry. A third aircraft, Sleipnir, was announced in September 2026.
Read the case study
Capabilities
What we can build
Maritime and border surveillance
Survey and mapping
Parachute operations
Sensor and mission-system integration
Special cabins, from medical evacuation to operator workstations
Unusual is normal.
We've been modifying aircraft for odd jobs since the 1980s, when a Zimex twin turboprop carried a purpose-built dispenser that released parasitic wasps over the cassava fields of Africa. Surveillance is one of the less unusual things we've been asked to do.
Partners
Airborne Technologies (mission systems)
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada (factory-endorsed service centre)
Questions
Which aircraft do you modify for special missions?
The Twin Otter. For the Danish Home Guard we modified DHC-6-300s at Altenrhein and integrated Airborne Technologies' Airborne LINX system: sensors plus an operator workstation.
Do you only modify the aircraft, or fly it as well?
Both. We integrate the mission system in our own hangar, certify the aircraft, crew it, maintain it and fly it, for as long as the contract runs.
Who looks after airworthiness during the contract?
We do. Maintenance and CAMO stay in-house, under the same set of approvals as the flying: EASA Part-145 CH.145.0230 and Part-CAMO CH.CAMO.1025.
How long can a contract run?
As long as you need. The Danish Home Guard lease, signed in 2023, runs for eight years.
What else can you build besides surveillance aircraft?
Survey and mapping aircraft, parachute operations, sensor and mission-system integration, and special cabins, from medical evacuation to operator workstations.
Contact desk
Special missions
Andries Wannenburg, Head of Sales & Business Development
Seven more ways to say yes.
- Humanitarian & Remote OperationsTwin Otters, crews and support for places without much else.
- Wet LeaseOur aircraft, our crew, your flight number.
- Express CargoATR freighters that fly while the network sleeps.
- Passenger Charter48 seats, based in Basel, going where you need.
- MaintenanceWe fix what we fly. And what you fly.
- TrainingType ratings taught by people who were flying last week.
- Aircraft & PartsTwin Otters and parts, bought, sold and kept flying.