The Twin Otter was and is used by dozens of airlines and militaries around the world, and was produced in three main series (100, 200, 300) until 1988.
As of 2006, over 40 years after design and manufacturing work on the original DHC-6 began, more than 500 of this aircraft were still flying. In that year Viking Air purchased the type certificate for the DHC-6 and announced its intention to offer a new build Series 400 Twin Otter.
Current civil operators In 2016, there were 281 Twin Otters in airline service with 26 new aircraft on order: 112 in North/South America, 106 in Asia Pacific & Middle East (16 orders), 38 in Europe (10 orders) and 25 in Africa.
A total of 270 Twin Otters were in airline service in 2018, and 14 on order: 111 in North/South America, 117 in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East (14 orders), 26 in Europe and 13 in Africa.
In 2020, there were a total of 315 Twin Otters worldwide with 220 in service, 95 in storage and 8 on order. By region there were 22 in Africa, 142 in Asia Pacific (8 orders), 37 in Europe, 4 in the Middle East and 110 in the Americas.
As of February 2023, there were 108 Twin Otters registered in Canada.
+ Aircraft 2020 Operator Total In service In storage Orders Country AeroGeo 8 0 8 Russia Aerolínea de Antioquia 1 0 1 Colombia Aerovías DAP 1 1 0 Chile Air Adelphi 7 6 1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Air Antilles Express 4 4 0 French Antilles Air Archipels 2 2 0 French Polynesia Air Borealis 8 8 0 Canada Air Calédonie 1 1 0 New Caledonia Aircalin 1 0 0 New Caledonia Air Inuit 7 7 0 Canada Air Kiribati 2 2 0 Kiribati Air Loyauté 3 3 0 New Caledonia Aircraft Sales and Services for UEP 1 1 0 Pakistan Air Seychelles 5 5 0 Seychelles Air Tetiaroa 1 1 0 French Polynesia Air Tindi 5 5 0 Canada Air Vanuatu 3 3 0 Vanuatu Airfast Indonesia 6 6 0 Indonesia Airkenya Express 3 3 0 Kenya Aklak Air 1 1 0 Canada ARM Aviación 2 2 0 Guatemala Aurora 3 3 0 Russia Aviakompaniya SKOL 2 0 2 Russia Aviastar 6 5 1 Indonesia Ayit Aviation 1 1 0 Israel Blue Bird Aviation 3 2 1 Sudan Blue Wing Airlines 2 2 0 Suriname Cayman Airways Express 2 2 0 Cayman Islands Chukotavia 4 4 0 Russia Daily Air 4 3 1 Taiwan Dimonim Air 1 0 1 Indonesia Divi Divi Air 3 3 0 Curaçao Enerjet 1 0 1 Canada Fiji Link 4 4 0 Fiji First Flying 2 2 0 Japan FlyBig 0 0 0 10 India Grand Canyon Airlines 13 6 7 United States Gum Air 2 2 0 Suriname Harbour Air Seaplanes 3 3 0 Canada InterCaribbean Airways 1 1 0 Turks and Caicos Islands Isles of Scilly Skybus 4 4 0 England Jam Air Express 1 1 0 Jamaica Kenn Borek Air 15 11 4 Canada LADE 7 5 2 Argentina Loganair 3 3 0 Scotland Maldivian 11 10 1 Maldives Manta Air 6 5 1 Maldives MASwings 6 2 4 Malaysia Meiya Air 0 0 0 5 China Merpati Nusantara Airlines 6 0 6 Indonesia Nature Air 1 0 1 Costa Rica Nepal Airlines 3 2 1 Nepal Nordic Seaplanes 1 1 0 Denmark Norlandair 3 3 0 Iceland North-Wright Airways 2 2 0 Canada Osprey Wings 2 1 1 Canada PAL Airlines 1 1 0 Canada PNG Air 1 0 1 Papua New Guinea Regional Air 1 0 1 Tanzania Regional Air 1 1 0 Papua New Guinea SAM Air 2 2 0 Indonesia Samoa Airways 3 2 1 Samoa Seaborne Airlines 2 2 0 United States Virgin Islands Servicios Aéreos de los Andes 1 1 0 Peru SJL Aeronautica 3 3 0 Angola SKS Airways 2 0 2 Malaysia Solomon Airlines 4 4 0 Solomon Islands SonAir 5 0 5 Angola Star Aviation 2 2 0 Algeria Tara Air 4 4 0 3 Nepal Trans Maldivian Airways 62 62 0 Maldives Transportes Aereos Petroleros (TAPSA) 1 1 0 Argentina Transwest Air 9 9 0 Canada Tsaradia 2 0 2 Madagascar Winair (Saint Maarten) 5 5 0 Sint Maarten Zimex Aviation 9 7 2 Switzerland
Historical civil operators
♠ original operators
Former operators are listed where possible.
Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) ♠ - former operator
AeropelicanEndres 1979, p.370. Air Queensland Flight West MacRobertson Miller Airlines Skywest Airlines Sunstate Airlines Trans Australia AirlinesEndres 1979, pp. 385–386.
AirWest Airlines (Canada)Endres 1979, p. 21. Athabaska Airlines ♠ Austin AirwaysEndres 1979, p. 23. Bradley Air Services - (now First Air)Endres 1979, p. 24.
Calm Air International Georgian Bay Airlines ♠ Kenn Borek Air Labrador Airways Midwest Airlines ♠ Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario) ♠ - forest firefighting
NorOntairEndres 1979, pp. 38–39. Northwood Airlines ♠ Pacific Western Airlines (PWA) - former operator Ptarmigan Airways - former operator (merged into First Air) Sabourin Lake Airways Sander Geophysics"Sander Geophysics Acquires Twin Otter Survey Aircraft." Sander Geophysics, 13 July 2010. Retrieved: 23 June 2010. Transport Canada - former operator, 15 aircraft Time AirEndres 1979, p. 51. Wardair Canada ♠ - former operator
TACV Cabo Verde AirlinesEndres 1979, p. 76.
ACES ColombiaEndres 1979, p. 154.
Lina CongoEndres 1979, p. 364.
Air DjiboutiEndres 1979, p. 116.
Air Alpes ♠ Air CalédonieEndres 1979, p. 117. Air Caraïbes - a DHC-6-300 crashed in March 2001 near Saint Barthélemy airportSt Barth: le crash du col de la Tourmente (12 pictures, a trajectory map, a document from french Accident Inquiry Bureau aka BEA) Air GuadeloupeEndres 1979, p. 118. Air Polynesie (now Air Tahiti)Endres 1979, pp. 116–117.
Delta AirEndres 1979, p. 84. DLT HADAG AirEndres 1979, p. 85.
Guyana AirwaysEndres 1979, p. 441.
Merpati Nusantara Airlines ♠
SkyKef"Our Plane." Skykef, 2010. Retrieved: 27 September 2010. Ayit Aviation and TourismThe Israeli aviation history site, 2012. (Hebrew).
Aeralpi
Lao Air
Air MadagascarEndres 1979, p. 431.
Maldivian
Air Mauritius
Air MaliEndres 1979, p. 369.
Oman Air Oman aviation services
Aeronaves de Mexico♠ and successor Aeromexico Transportes Aereos Terrestes♠
Widerøe♠ - former operator
ASSL for UEP - Current operator
Ansett Airlines of Papua New Guinea - former operator
Spantax ♠
Air Commuter ♠ - former operator Air Illinois - former operator Air New EnglandEndres 1979, p. 197. Air NorthEndres 1979, pp. 197–198. Alaska Aeronautical Industries (AAI)Endres 1979, p. 200. Air Wisconsin ♠ - former operator Crown AirwaysEndres 1979, p. 223. Frontier AirlinesEndres 1979, p. 236. Golden West AirlinesEndres 1979, p. 237. Hawaii Jet-Air ♠ - former operator Metroflight Airlines Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) ♠ - former operator (acquired by Wien Air Alaska which in turn continued to operate these DHC-6 aircraft). Pilgrim Airlines ♠ - former operator (acquired by Business Express) Rocky Mountain Airways Trans East International ♠ - former operator
Military and government operators Including police users.
Argentine Air Force (Marambio Base) / LADE Argentine Army Argentine Navy
2 Australian Antarctic Division - leased from Kenn Borek Air 3 Australian Army - former operator, leased aircraft with civil registration 2 Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service - former operator, leased from Trans Australia Airlines
1 Benin Air ForceHoyle, 2018, p. 12
4 Royal Canadian Air Force (formerly Canadian Forces) - CC-138s (DHC-6-300s) - Operated by 440 Transport Squadron in Yellowknife, NT 1 Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources - former operator 1 Ontario Provincial Police - former operator 1 Transport Canada - former operator
11 Chilean Air Force
Colombian National Police
2 Home Guard (Denmark) A third aircraft is planned to be delivered by summer 2026.
2 Ecuadorian Air Force (TAME)
2 Ethiopian Air Force loaned from Army
5 French Air and Space Force
1 Haitian Air Force
1 Viking Guardian 400 variant operated by Irish Air Corps for the Garda Air Support Unit.
? (retired) Jamaica Defence Force
? (retired) Nepalese Army Air ServiceWheeler Flight International 4 August 1979, p. 367 Nepalese Royal Flight
Royal Norwegian Air Force (Retired from active service)
Panamanian Public Forces 1 (Army until 1988) National Air and Naval Service of Panama
Paraguayan Air Force (retired)
Peruvian Air Force (12 series -400 recently purchased)
Sudanese Air Force - one photo survey aircraft operated by Sudan Airways for the air force.
Swiss Air Force - one operated for the Swiss Office of Topography
Royal Thai Police
Uganda Police Force Air Wing
4 British Antarctic Survey"Aircraft Capability" British Antarctic Survey website, 2023. Retrieved 31 Mar 2023
6 Alaska National Guard - UV-18A former operator 1 Federal Aviation Administration - former operator, leased from Transport Canada 1 NASAEastwood 1990, pp.119-147 4 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 United States Air Force - UV-18B used by United States Air Force Academy for the Academy Parachute Team 3 United States Army - UV-18C 1 United States Navy - UV-18A used by the United States Naval Research Laboratory
6 Vietnamese People's Navy"Vietnamese Navy Orders DHC-6 Twin-Otter 400s." Defense Industry Daily, 2010. Retrieved: 15 May 2010.
References Notes
Bibliography