On Tuesday, De Havilland Canada announced letters of intent for 14 Dash 8-400 turboprops, adding to previously announced Dubai Airshow orders.
Yesterday, De Havilland Canada announced a host of additional letters of intent (LOIs) to purchase their best-selling Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft. The first letter of intent was signed by Aurora Airlines for five aircraft and the second announcement was a conditional purchase agreement with ACIA Leasing for three additional Dash 8-400s. Tuesday’s third letter of intent was signed by the Government of The Republic of Ghana for up to six aircraft, bringing the total commitments announced Tuesday to 14.
Aurora Airlines is a subsidiary of the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot and is based in Sakhalin, Russia. Currently, Aurora operates a fleet of eight Dash 8s, including two Dash 8-400s. In Tuesday’s announcement, Aurora’s General Director, Konstantin Sukhorebrik said,
“The aircraft’s diverse capabilities and jet-like performance will support our growing network and meet the increasing demands for charter operations. We aim to increase traffic and expand our local, regional and international footprint with the additional aircraft. In the future, we plan on ordering more Dash 8-400 aircraft as we look to streamline our fleet with a harmonized configuration. The opportunity to increase seat capacity with the new configurations offered by De Havilland Canada allows us to tap into growth and new markets.”
The second potential order received by De Havilland was a conditional purchase agreement from ACIA Aero Capital Limited (ACIA Leasing) for three Dash 8-400s. In yesterday’s announcement, ACIA Aero Capital’s Group Managing Director, Brett Hurst stated,
“The Dash 8-400 aircraft is a core part of ACIA’s long term strategy as it seeks to grow and diversify its fleet of 50 turboprop and regional jet aircraft. The Dash 8-400 is an aircraft type we have wanted to invest in for a long time now, and represents a significant opportunity for ACIA. In particular, the versatility of the aircraft – with passenger capacity of up to 90 seats – offers real opportunities to meet varied lessees’ operational environments and requirements. In addition, the residual values of the Dash 8 family of aircraft have proved to be very strong and dependable – making this an ideal investment for our portfolio.”
ACIA Aero Capital has operations in Ireland, France and Mauritius with operations in regional aircraft leasing, aircraft Large Cargo Door (LCD) conversions and aircraft parts.
The Government of The Republic of Ghana also signed a LOI with De Havilland Canada on Tuesday for a potential order of up to six Dash 8-400s. In the Dubai Airshow announcement, The Republic of Ghana’s Minister of Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda said,
“We are very excited to be working with De Havilland Canada to develop our fleet with modern aircraft that will support the development of our national airline and provide a strong foundation as we work to build a broader network and become the aviation hub of West Africa. The Dash 8-400 aircraft provides the proven reliability and performance we are seeking and will be a great asset to our airline. We are committed to offering our communities state-of-the-art air transportation, and the Dash 8-400 aircraft offers the perfect mix of passenger amenities, cargo capacity, operational economics and environmental credentials to meet our requirements. We are looking forward to finalizing a purchase agreement with De Havilland Canada in the near future and securing up to six Dash 8-400 aircraft for our fleet.”
De Havilland Canada’s Chief Operating Officer, Todd Young, expressed gratitude for each of the new purchase agreements and or LOIs. Speaking specifically on the order from The Republic of Ghana, Mr. Young said,
“It is always a source of pride when our Dash 8-400 aircraft is selected by a new operator and we welcome this opportunity to work with the people of Ghana as they establish their home-based carrier. The advanced Dash 8-400 aircraft continues to prove its capabilities across Africa’s diverse landscape, and we are confident that its hot-and-high performance, as well as its short take-off and landing capability will meet the demands of Ghana’s warm, dry coastal areas, its hotter, more humid regions, as well as any challenging airport operations.”
The De Havilland Dash 8-400 is the only turboprop in its class certified to operate at high altitude airports and offers the flexibility to operate with steep approaches as well as the ability to operate from unpaved runways. The aircraft offers a 30% reduction in fuel-burn versus similar capacity regional jets and is around 160 km/h faster than typical turboprops. The Dash 8-400 aircraft has more than 60 customers worldwide in nearly 40 countries. The aircraft has also logged nearly 7M flight hours with a 99.5% dispatch reliability rate.
Source: De Havilland Aircraft of Canada