De Havilland Aircraft of Canada announced at the Dubai Airshow on Monday that they have secured a Letter of Intent from Palma Holdings to purchase 20 Dash 8-400s.
After receiving an earlier firm order for three Dash 8-400s from the Elin Group, De Havilland Canada announced more good news on the second day of the Dubai Airshow. On Monday, Palma Holding Limited signed a Letter of Intent with the recently resurrected Canadian manufacturer for 20 Dash 8-400s. In today’s announcement, Palma Holding’s President, Omar Alaoui said,
“Palma became the first lessor worldwide to order the Dash 8-400 aircraft in its dual-class configuration and this first decision led us to develop other opportunities for the Dash 8-400 aircraft. We have leased new Dash 8-400 aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines, RwandAir and Falcon Aviation, and we see many more opportunities for this versatile aircraft."
Palma’s Managing Director, Anas Bennani added,
"From a lessor’s point of view, we see the focus from De Havilland Canada as a very strong value lever for the Dash 8-400 aircraft. The value of the asset not only comes from its outstanding operational flexibility, passenger amenities, and low environmental footprint, but also the focus of the De Havilland Canada sales and support teams on this product. We are confident that De Havilland Canada’s renowned manufacturing expertise will only enhance the future of this aircraft program as we look ahead at developing new airline customer relationships.”
The Dash 8-400 is the latest in the Dash-8 series family, previously developed by Bombardier. The aircraft is a versatile, advanced 21st century turboprop that can handle steep approaches and can even land on unpaved runways. Additionally, the aircraft is the only model in its class certified to operate at high altitude airports. The Dash 8-400 delivers a 30% fuel reduction versus similar capacity jets and cruises about 160 kilometers per hour faster than conventional turboprops. Also commenting on today’s announcement, De Havilland Canada’s Chief Operating Officer, Todd Young said,
"We are very encouraged by Palma’s Letter of Intent to purchase 20 Dash 8-400 aircraft, especially as it comes soon after the transition of the Dash 8 aircraft program to De Havilland Canada. The Dash 8-400 aircraft has been proving itself in the Middle East and Africa for quite some time and we feel that we are on the brink of even greater success as we continue to work with lessors such as Palma to support the development of the region’s air transportation networks.”
The De Havilland Dash 8-400 has logged over 7M flight hours with 60 owners and operators in nearly 40 countries. The aircraft has a dispatch reliability rate of 99.5% and has carried over 400M passengers worldwide.
Source: De Havilland Aircraft of Canada