DHC considers a future roadmap for its Dash 8

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada (DHC) has issued a new roadmap for the future of its Dash 8 family of aircraft. First, the company intends to better understand its customer's needs, via a Product Strategy Council, which has been meeting over the past months with operators in North America, Oceania, Japan, Africa and Europe, to understand their requirements and expectations as their businesses objectives and passenger preferences evolve. Once these discussions are complete, De Havilland Canada says that it will be considering the feedback from the Product Strategy Council to determine the final roadmap for the Dash 8 program strategy. This is the same approach DHC undertook prior to developing new production programs for the DHC-515 and the Twin Otter Classic 300G. “De Havilland Aircraft of Canada would like to thank the operators who have participated in this important initiative,” said Ryan DeBrusk, vice president of sales and marketing for De Havilland Canada. “It’s clear the Dash 8 continues to be a highly valued fleet for operators around the world whether in an airline’s network or performing a specialised mission.  Our teams have been energised by the valuable feedback we have received and are working hard to provide a roadmap to our customers that outlines the future of the Dash 8 program.” While this work is underway, DHC states that it remains “committed to enhancing the platform” through in-service support and new features such as cargo conversion upgrades, cabin enhancements, avionics upgrades, ESP+ life extension program and the OEM Certified Refurbishment Program.