Meiya Air (Sanya) is suing De Havilland Aircraft of Canada and Viking Air over a botched DHC-6-400 order. The lawsuit, filed on April 7, 2025, in Vancouver's Supreme Court, was first reported by Canada's Western Investor newspaper. The lawsuit seeks to reclaim deposits of USD2.135 million, plus breach of contract damages and general, special, delay, and aggravated damages.

The report says Meiya Air Co. Ltd signed a deposit agreement in 2012 with Viking Air Limited for the sale and purchase of three Twin Otters, plus options for more. This required Meiya to pay a deposit of USD610,000 for each ordered aircraft and USD305,000 for each optioned aircraft. A statement issued by Meiya's then-Canadian legal representative, Fasken Martineau, said the airline was seeking up to five amphibious DHC-6-400s to support its Sanya-based operations.

At the time, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) was still to certify the DHC-6-400 and the deposit agreement noted this. Meiya Air was the first Chinese company to sign up for this specific type of aircraft. Also at the time, Viking Air was a manufacturer of aircraft, aircraft parts, and systems based in British Columbia. It specialised in de Havilland aircraft products and had the rights to produce them.

Then a start-up, Meiya Air had hoped to take delivery of the first of the Twin Otters as soon as 2013 to commence charter operations. However, by early 2014, CAAC certification had still not happened and the parties extended the deposit agreement contingent on certification by the end of October 2014. That occurred, and the sale and purchase agreement was executed in June. All up, Meiya agreed to pay USD6.1 million for each aircraft, plus extra for spare parts and other equipment.

In 2019, representatives of Meiya Air Co. Ltd. wrote to Viking Air about the deposits for the still-to-be-delivered aircraft. It is unclear why there was a five-year gap up to this follow-up inquiry and what happened in the interim. In any case, Viking allegedly failed to respond to inquiries. By this point, as reported in ch-aviation, Meiya Air was operating two Cessna (single turboprop) 208-675 Caravan and two Cessna (single piston) 172S amphibious aircraft out of Sanya.

According to Western Investor, it was another five years before representatives of Meiya Air travelled to Canada to follow up on the matter. By this time, Viking Air had recently merged into De Havilland.

“During this meeting […] the plaintiff discovered its deposits were no longer in the possession and/or control of Viking,” the claim said. “It was in September of 2024 that the defendants first acknowledged their liability in respect of the plaintiff’s claim.”

De Havilland told ch-aviation that it was aware of the claim filed by Meiya Air. "Out of respect for the litigation process before the BC Courts, we are unable to comment further at this time," a spokesperson said.

ch-aviation also contacted Meiya Air for comment.