For many years, the de Havilland Dash 8-400 was the backbone of the Air Baltic fleet. Shortly after the start of the corona pandemic, the carrier managed by Martin Gauss decided not to bring this model back into regular service. On February 1, 2023, the last unit was returned to the lessor Nordic Aviation Capital.

“The last return flight marks the official end of our development phase to date. The de Havilland Dash 8-400 was undoubtedly a superbly performing aircraft that helped us get to where we are today - operating the most efficient and environmentally friendly fleet in Europe," said Air Baltic CEO Martin Gauss. “Although a smaller aircraft occasionally allows more flexibility, a one-type fleet still has significant advantages – both economically and technically (maintenance) and also in terms of sustainability and training. We are grateful to Bombardier for the service; it was a journey that will go down in our history. Now we look ahead and rejoice at how the Airbus A220-300 has transformed our airline and has become one of the company's most important and valuable assets."

In 2010, Air Baltic took delivery of the first de Havilland Dash 8-400 NextGen. The fleet was subsequently expanded to 12 units. According to its own information, this type of aircraft has carried out 222.000 flights and carried 11 million passengers.

In the following slideshow you can see some photos of the return flight: