State-owned power utility Hydro-Québec (HYD, Montréal Trudeau) has acquired three ATR72-600s to renew its ageing fleet and retire all of its DHC-8-300 and DHC-8-Q400 aircraft in the coming years.
It has invested CAD100 million Canadian dollars (USD70.5 million) to purchase the three ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops with an option for an additional unit. Hydro-Québec told ch-aviation that the first will be delivered in autumn 2026 and the last during summer 2027.
“After surveying the market, it was concluded that the European [manufacturer] ATR was the only one able to offer us aircraft that met our technical requirements, particularly in terms of passenger capacity and the ability to land on short gravel runways,” Hydro-Québec said in a statement, adding that many of the aircraft’s components are made in Canada, such as the PW127XT engines (produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada) and flight controls.
Hydro-Québec relies on its fleet to transport employees to locations in Saguenay (Bagotville), Abitibi, Côte-Nord, and Baie-James. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that it operates two DHC-8-300s and two DHC-8-Q400s, averaging 27.5 years of age.
Air Inuit (3H, Kuujjuaq) will continue providing personnel to Hydro-Québec for the maintenance needs of the new fleet, as part of their 2021 agreement.
