Jazz Air (operator of regional flights as Air Canada Jazz) retired all of its De Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 aircraft in early January.
The regional operator had six aircraft until the last day of operations. Its DHC-8-300 fleet peaked at 28 units between 2008 and 2017, though that total then declined as they were replaced by other aircraft.
Jazz Air was the last major operator of the DHC-8-300, owning every aircraft. No other airline operates more than five, with the exception of Eastern Australia Airlines and Air New Zealand which own fleets of 23 and 15 units respectively.
Following the departure of the DHC-8-300s the regional operator’s only turboprop model is the DHC-8-Q400. Jazz Air by April 2020 had retired all DHC-8-100s, of which it operated as many as 64 units. According to ch-aviation, Jazz Air’s regional fleet consists of 15 Bombardier CRJ200s, 5 Bombardier CRJ900s, 25 Embraer E175s, and 39 DHC-8-Q400s.
Several of the retired DHC-8-300s will get a new life by being purchased by other carriers for conversion to DHC-8-300F freighter versions. This process is being carried out at Bombardier Aerospace’s MRO center in Montreal.
See also: De Havilland Canada modifies Dash 8s for medical supplies transportation
