The writing has been on the wall/s for a very long time. Bombardier’s relationship with the de Havilland name comes, finally, to an end … truly the end of an era.
Bombardier has agreed to sell the Dash 8, Q400 programme, together with the de Havilland name, to Longview Aviation Capital, the parent company of Viking Air for $300 million.
Longview will continue to produce the Q400 at Downsview, Ontario, and Bombardier will transfer the Global business-jet assembly to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The entire de Havilland product line is now reunited under the same banner. Having transferred the C Series programme to Airbus, Bombardier was seeking options for its remaining aircraft business. “We decided to sell the Q400 to a better owner.” said Bombardier President and CEO Alain Bellmare (A very intriguing statement).
The interesting result of this agreement is that Longview Aviation Capital (Viking Air) now, owns the type certificates and manufacturing rights for all de Havilland Canada aircraft from the DHC Chipmunk, Beaver, Otter, and Twin Otter, through to the Dash 7/8 turboprop series and the CL-215 amphibious aircraft.
Not quite the end of an era yet, it seems, even though Bombardier has, just, announced the lay-off of 5,000 positions globally. The government’s opposition is going to have a field day.
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