Quest Aircraft secured two more validations for its single-turboprop Kodiak, increasing the total number of countries that have approved the aircraft to 29. The latest approvals come from Civil Aviation Authority of Namibia and the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee. The Russian approval includes the 11 countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Quest delivered its first Namibian-bound Kodiak last year to Scenic Air. The sightseeing operation worked with Quest and the Namibian government on the validation. The Kodiak is one of seven operating in Africa. Steve Zinda, Quest vice president of sales for China, Middle East, Europe and Africa, noted that the aircraft has also received considerable interest from the CIS market, along with a number of others.

“We continue to strategically expand our presence internationally, which includes working on additional aircraft type certifications in key markets,” Zinda said. The company recently began the process to earn EASA approval and brought the Kodiak to EBACE for the first time. It also continues to build up the U.S. market and has plans to display the Kodiak on Thursday at the NBAA Business Aviation Regional Forum in Teterboro, N.J., as well as at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., next month.