(Posted 25th July 2025)
De Havilland of Canada confirmed earlier this week at the Farnborough Air Show that the Tanzanian government has signed a purchase agreement for a refurbished DHC Q400 aircraft, said to be added to the Air Tanzania fleet. Official ‘purchaser’ is the Tanzanian government’s legal body Tanzania Government Flight, which has in the past also acquired a number of new aircraft including Airbus A220’s, Boeing B787’s and others to attach to Air Tanzania. The national airline has a chequered history of heavy debts and defaults which, would the airline directly own these aircraft, risk attachment by creditors – something which happened anyway in several cases over debts owned outright by the Tanzanian government. Most notable case was the attachment of an A220 aircraft which was held at Johannesburg following a scheduled flight.
De Havilland has an established programme to acquire and then refurbish pre-owned DHC 8 aircraft and after completing the overhaul then resell them to existing and new customers.
