Bombardier Q400 Capacity Increase Certified For Operation

Bombardier’s 90-seat Q400 aircraft configuration has received its certification from Transport Canada, as it prepares for first delivery.

Launch customer for the highest capacity Q400, India’s SpiceJet, ordered 25 of the aircraft last year, with options on another 25. First delivery is expected later this year.

“With increasing growth in the number of passengers per departure in the turboprop market, we are excited to offer our customers a higher-capacity configuration and 15 percent lower cost per seat compared to the previous standard Q400,” Bombardier’s Q400 programme lead Todd Young said.

The 90-seat configuration increase is the latest in the evolution of what started as the 39-seat Dash 8. A stretched version with up to 56 seats followed, and another stretch to 78 passengers entered service in 2000.

Bombardier says it is the first in-production commercial turboprop in the world to reach the 90-seat capacity mark. Other improvements still under development include a 2,000 lb. (900kg). increase in payload capacity and an increase in A Check intervals from 600 to 800 hours, and C Check intervals from 6,000 to 8,000 flight hours.