A resurgent De Havilland Canada secured an order seven Dash 8-400s and has launched a new refurbishment program for the global turboprop fleet. The announcements accompanied confirmation of sales of one of the big turboprops to Skyward Express, another to Tanzania's Government Flight Agency, and a pair to Wideroe Airlines of Norway. Separately, the company signed a deal to supply a quick-change freighter kit to Advantage Air.
In 2018, DHC, then Viking Air, launched a program to convert and upgrade previously used CL-215 aircraft into the CL-415 Enhanced Aerial Fighter. To date, nine of 11 aircraft have undergone the upgrades.
The DHC OEM Certified Refurbishment Program allows the company to acquire, upgrade and remarket the aircraft for specific customers' needs. MRO work will take place at its Calgary, Alberta facility.
Works offered include aircraft configuration to match the customer's fleet, completion of overdue MRO, integration of airworthiness directives, and service bulletin upgrades; and freighter conversions, including the introduction of the new Dash 8-400 Large Cargo Door and Quick Change between cargo and passenger missions.
To date, DHC have acquired 28 Dash 8-400 aircraft for the program.
For over four decades, the Dash 8 family of aircraft has served as regional airliners, accumulating over 46 million flight cycles in global operations.
DHC has assembled a Product Strategy Council and met in recent months with operators in North America, Oceania, Japan, Africa, and Europe to understand their requirements and expectations as their business objectives and passenger preferences evolve.
"It's clear that the Dash 8 continues to be a highly valued fleet for operators around the world, whether in an airline's network or performing a specialized mission," said Ryan DeBrusk, v-p of sales and marketing at DHC.