From Australian Aviation:
BOMBARDIER CUTS SMALLER TURBOPROPS: Bombardier has informed employees that it will discontinue its 37 seat Dash 8-Q200 and 50 seat Q300 turboprops after current orders are finished in May 2009.
The Montreal based manufacturer's new Regional Aircraft president Steve Ridolfi said that the decision to drop the lower capacity Dash 8s was driven by market movement to larger capacity aircraft. “Due to a shift in demand towards larger turboprops, Bombardier Aerospace has increased the production rate of its 78-seat Q400 aircraft and will discontinue the production of its 37-seat Q200 aircraft and its 50-seat Q300 aircraft,” he said.
Bombardier plans to use the extra capacity at its Toronto facility to increase the production rate of the Q400 which has garnered strong sales recently despite problems with the type at SAS. Bombardier has also launched the NextGen Q400, which will feature enhancements to the cockpit and cabin, including new ceiling panels, LED lighting and larger overhead bins.
Cutting the smaller model Dash 8s could leave the ATR 42 as the only Western built turboprop with less than 60 seats. Turboprop values and lease rentals for these smaller aircraft have increased significantly in recent years as the price of oil has pushed many airlines to replace regional jets with more efficient turboprops.
Where does that leave QantasLink, Skippers and others for replacement aircraft into the future? Maybe we will see some more ATR's flying around.