Cutting a converted Dash

摘要

As large passenger aircraft such as Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s are repurposed as freighters in a coronavirus-blighted world, the humbler De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Dash 8 is on a similar mission. The manufacturer, which took over the type's programme from Bombardier in 2018, has recently introduced a Simplified Package Freighter (SPF) layout, enabling a quick-change conversion from passenger to cargo configuration. A Service Bulletin covering conversion kits for the current-production Dash 8-400 variant was approved by Transport Canada in April, with clearance for the out-of-production -100, -200 and -300 models following in the middle of May. Jazz Aviation, which operates services for Air Canada Express, was the launch customer for the Dash 8-400 conversion, ordering 13 kits. Kenya-based 748 Air Services, which provides passenger and cargo services to humanitarian, natural resources and government sectors in Africa, ordered four Dash 8-100 and a trio of the -400 kits.