Austrian Airlines has retired the last of its Dash 8-Q400s, completing the phasing out of the turboprop aircraft which commenced in 2019.
The carrier’s final Dash 8-Q400 flight was OS906 from Innsbruck to Vienna, marking the end of over 40 years of Dash operations.
Tyrolean Airways – which was acquired by Austrian in 1998 and merged into the carrier in 2015 – first flew the De Havilland Canada DHC-7 (popularly known as the Dash 7) in April 1980.
In more recent times Austrian’s final 18 Dash 8-Q400s operated short-haul routes including Vienna to Milan, Warsaw and Zagreb.
The aircraft has carried over 20 million passengers for the airline over the last 20 years, and at its peak was operating 44,000 flights per year for Austrian.
Austrian’s CCO Michael Trestl said that the carrier was “well prepared for the fleet retirement of the Dash”, adding that its Airbus and Embraer aircraft meant that it would “continue to offer our passengers a good feeder service with Vienna as our hub”.
Meanwhile COO Francesco Sciortino commented:
“The Dash has had an impressive career in our company, it is and will remain part of our history. We will not forget that. I would like to thank everyone who has served the Dash aircraft over the past decades, from the cabin and cockpit crews, to the technician team and many more.”
To commemorate the retirement of the Dash, Austrian has produced a 96-page book looking back at the aircraft, available from the carrier’s Jetshop.
Following the onset of Covid-19, Austrian announced plans to retire all of its A319 aircraft, as well as half of its fleet of B767s by 2022.
