Farnborough, United Kingdom – Dowty Propellers today announced an agreement establishing Ethiopian Airlines as an authorised repair and overhaul facility in Africa for propellers on Bombardier Q400 regional airliners.
Under terms of this agreement, Dowty Propellers will provide training, technical data and equipment, along with support enabling Ethiopian to repair and overhaul Dowty Propellers’ R408 propeller hardware that equip the twin-engine Q400 turboprop. Additionally, Dowty will supply continuous engineering and technical support for Ethiopian’s maintenance and support operations, including basing the first permanent Dowty Propellers Field Service Engineer in Africa at Ethiopian’s maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Addis Ababa.
“We are very pleased with this cooperation between Dowty Propellers and Ethiopian Airlines to increase support to operators of Q400 aircraft in Africa,” said Todd Young, Head of Q Series Aircraft Program, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “The launch of propeller repair and overall capability for the Q400 aircraft at Ethiopian’s facilities will certainly offer our operators increased competitive advantage.”
“With the number of Q400 airliners continuing to grow in Africa, this localised solution offers greatly enhanced support for operators in a fast-developing region,” said Oliver Towers, the President of Dowty Propellers. “Ethiopian Airlines is a natural partner for us, as the carrier is Africa’s largest operator of Q400s, and it has a long history of repair and overhaul for Dowty composite propellers installed on Fokker 50 airliners.”
Ethiopian Airlines has an extensive maintenance and overhaul network linking many parts of the African continent, with its maintenance and overhaul facility at Addis Ababa certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency.
The Q400’s propeller system from Dowty Propellers incorporates six all-composite blades with an advanced swept design and optimised airfoil sections. Equipped with fail-safe electronic controls, this propeller system’s modular configuration eliminates mechanical control linkages to the cockpit, while facilitating the individual removal and replacement of blades.
About Dowty Propellers
As a leader in the development, manufacture and support of electronically controlled, all-composite propeller systems, Dowty Propellers provides solutions for the propulsion needs of today and tomorrow. Its products are used in applications that range from commercial airliners and military airlifters to multi-role seaplanes and marine hovercraft.
With a proven record of product development, introduction and support, Dowty Propellers continually invests in technologies, production capabilities and human resources – resulting in propeller systems that are safe, efficient and reliable. Its history of firsts-to-market includes the all-composite propeller blade and full-authority digital propeller control. More than 23,000 advanced composite blades have been delivered to date by Dowty Propellers, with the lead blade logging over 45,000 hours of flight time.
Bombardier, Q Series and Q400 are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.