Farnborough – October 18, 2026 -- Widerøe has become the launch customer for De Havilland Canada's Dash 8-400 A-Check Escalation Program, which extends scheduled A-Check intervals from 800 to 1,200 flight hours across the Scandinavian carrier's fleet of 17 aircraft.
Widerøe becomes first Dash 8-400 operator to adopt the extended interval
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited announced the agreement with Widerøe, which it describes as Scandinavia's largest regional airline. Implementation is underway and is expected to finish within the next 12 months.
The 50% longer interval cuts the number of routine A-Check inspections each aircraft requires. De Havilland Canada says the program maintains safety and airworthiness standards.
Fewer inspections target downtime and labour and material costs
Widerøe expects the longer interval to reduce aircraft downtime, raise fleet availability, and lower the labour and material costs of scheduled maintenance. The source gives no cost-saving figures.
Rob Mobilio, Chief Commercial Officer at De Havilland Canada, said the program is meant to cut maintenance costs and keep operators' aircraft out of the hangar and in the air longer. He called Widerøe the launch customer.
2021 interval extensions on older Dash 8 variants preceded the deal
The two companies introduced similar maintenance interval extensions in 2021 for Widerøe's Dash 8-100, -200 and -300 aircraft. Those extensions covered both A-Checks and C-Checks. De Havilland Canada says safety and reliability standards were maintained.