De Havilland Canada has reached a series of important milestones in recent months with the DHC-6 Twin Otter program, an aircraft whose roots date back to the 1960s. The new Classic 300-G generation has entered commercial service, secured European certification and attracted new customers, while the manufacturer is simultaneously launching a program aimed at significantly extending the service life of hundreds of older Twin Otters still operating around the world.

One particularly symbolic development came at this year’s Farnborough Airshow. De Havilland Canada and Island Aviation Services Limited, the parent company of Maldivian, signed a Letter of Intent for two new DHC-6 Twin Otter Classic 300-G aircraft. If converted into a firm order, they will become the first examples of the new-generation Twin Otter in the Maldives – the world’s largest market for the type.

The Maldives are perhaps the best example of why a design that is six decades old remains highly relevant. The Twin Otter combines two turboprop engines, rugged construction and exceptional STOL capabilities with the ability to operate on wheels, skis, floats or amphibious floats. In an island nation where numerous luxury resorts are far removed from conventional airports, the seaplane version has become almost as recognizable as the beaches themselves.

The new Classic 300-G is intended to preserve precisely those characteristics that have made the Twin Otter successful for decades, without radically changing the proven concept. The aircraft features a Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck, modernized systems, a new lighter passenger cabin and a lower empty weight. De Havilland says the basic weight has been reduced by approximately 400 to 500 lb, or around 180 to 225 kilograms, which can be converted into additional payload or range. For the standard configuration, the manufacturer lists a takeoff distance over a 50-foot obstacle of approximately 366 metres and a landing distance of around 320 metres.

The Classic 300-G program was officially launched at the 2023 Paris Air Show, where De Havilland Canada announced combined purchase agreements and Letters of Intent covering a total of 45 aircraft. Early customers included Zimex Aviation, Jetcraft Commercial and India’s flybig, which expressed interest in ten aircraft. Jetcraft also signed an agreement for ten aircraft, while Switzerland-based Zimex became one of the key partners in the program.

Ethiopian Airlines joined the program in 2025 with an order for two aircraft. The first was delivered to the airline in June this year and is intended to connect remote communities, tourist destinations and regions with limited aviation infrastructure in Ethiopia and across East Africa. The second aircraft is expected to follow during 2026.

Only days after the Ethiopian delivery, Zimex Aviation took delivery of aircraft serial number 998. De Havilland Canada described it as the first production Classic 300-G to enter service. For Zimex, which has operated Twin Otters for more than half a century on passenger, cargo, humanitarian and logistics missions, the delivery marked another chapter in an exceptionally long relationship with the type.

Further momentum came on July 22, when the Classic 300-G received certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA. The approval opened the way for broader deliveries to European customers as well as operators in markets that recognize EASA certification. Zimex simultaneously became the first operator of an EASA-certified 300-G.

Earlier this year, the Twin Otter also reached another major milestone. In March, De Havilland Canada delivered the 1,000th aircraft produced to Colombian state-owned carrier SATENA. The aircraft is part of a larger deal – SATENA signed a firm order in 2024 for eight new Twin Otters intended to improve connectivity with remote regions of Colombia. The path to the 1,000th aircraft, however, was anything but straightforward.

The first DHC-6 Twin Otter flew on May 20, 1965. It was developed as the successor and effectively a twin-engine evolution of the successful DHC-3 Otter, with an emphasis on operations from short and unimproved runways. The aircraft quickly found a role with regional airlines, military operators, government agencies and specialized operators in regions where conventional aircraft were simply impractical. From the Arctic to tropical islands, the Twin Otter gradually became a category of aircraft almost unto itself.

Original production ran from 1965 until 1988, encompassing the Series 100, 200 and the highly successful Series 300. A total of 844 aircraft were built before the production line was closed. De Havilland Canada itself went through a turbulent period of ownership changes. The Canadian government sold the company to Boeing in 1986, and it was during Boeing’s ownership that Twin Otter production ended in 1988. Boeing subsequently sold De Havilland Canada to Bombardier in 1992. The Twin Otter story, however, did not end there.

In 2006, Canadian manufacturer Viking Air acquired the type certificates for seven former De Havilland Canada aircraft programs from Bombardier, covering aircraft from the DHC-1 through the DHC-7 and including the Twin Otter. Viking already had extensive experience manufacturing parts and supporting legacy DHC aircraft, while strong demand for used Twin Otters demonstrated that a market still existed for newly built aircraft in the same category.

The result was the DHC-6 Series 400. The prototype of the modernized version made its first flight in October 2008, featuring newer PT6A-34 engines and a modern Honeywell Primus Apex flight deck. The Twin Otter had therefore returned to serial production after a gap of roughly two decades. By the end of 2022, more than 140 Series 400 aircraft had been delivered.

The next major change took place at the corporate level. Longview Aviation Capital, the owner of Viking Air, acquired Bombardier’s Dash 8 program and the rights to the De Havilland Canada name in 2019. This brought the former De Havilland aircraft programs back under common ownership for the first time in decades. In February 2022, Longview went a step further and consolidated Viking Air, Pacific Sky Training and its other aviation businesses under the operating brand De Havilland Aircraft of Canada. The Twin Otter therefore formally became a product of the company whose name it carried when it was originally developed in the 1960s.

The Classic 300-G, unveiled one year later, represented the first major new development phase of the Twin Otter program following that consolidation. De Havilland is not relying solely on the sale of new aircraft. Alongside EASA certification and new orders, the company announced at Farnborough that its Twin Otter Re-Life programs are now available to operators worldwide through Supplemental Type Certificate, or STC, approvals. DHC had previously acquired the relevant STCs and completed their transfer and validation with Transport Canada, allowing the upgrades to be offered directly through the manufacturer’s factory support network.

The program is particularly significant because large numbers of older Series 100, 200 and 300 aircraft remain active after several decades of service. By replacing key structural components, the service life of the wing centre box can be extended by up to 33,000 flight hours or 66,000 cycles. For the flight controls, De Havilland cites an additional 66,000 hours or 132,000 cycles, while similar life-extension solutions are available for the fuselage and the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Engine nacelles can receive a new service life of up to 45,000 hours or 90,000 cycles. The first installation of the flight-control life-extension package is expected during 2026.

It is precisely this combination of new-build aircraft and factory-supported life extension for the existing fleet that illustrates De Havilland Canada’s strategy for the program. Rather than attempting to replace the Twin Otter with an entirely new concept, the manufacturer is continuing to evolve a platform whose greatest advantage is that, for certain missions, there is still very little that can truly replace it.

Sixty-one years after its first flight, the Twin Otter therefore shows few signs of disappearing into aviation history. Following the restart of production under Viking, the reunification of the program under the De Havilland Canada name, the launch of the Classic 300-G, delivery of the 1,000th aircraft, the new version’s entry into commercial service and the opening of the European market, one of Canada’s longest-running aircraft programs has once again gained momentum.

And the arrival of the new generation in the Maldives, a country that has over the decades become something of an unofficial home for the Twin Otter, could become one of the clearest signs that the story of this aircraft is far from over.