A team at British Aerospace's Prestwick plant in Ayrshire has received a design licence for a rough-landing kit to enable the company's surplus Jetstream 41 turboprop passenger aircraft to be sold for bush flying in the Australian outback.

BAe closed the Jetstream 41 production line last year with the loss of 380 jobs, ending planemaking in Scotland. About 100 unsold aircraft are now either up for sale or used for leasing deals on short-haul contracts. Two have been sold to the PearlJet Corporation of Brisbane for use on dirt and gravel strips in remote mining areas.