On Thursday 29 October 2026, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 registered VH-84H landed in Rockhampton, Queensland, for the first time, wearing the name of the city it was landing in: Rockhampton. It was the last of 12 second-hand Dash 8-400s that QantasLink has added over two years, and its arrival completed the airline’s turboprop fleet renewal.

The new arrivals replaced QantasLink’s smaller Dash 8-200 and -300 aircraft. The regional brand now flies 43 Dash 8-400s, which Qantas says makes it the world’s largest operator of the type. The aircraft are flown by Qantas subsidiary Sunstate Airlines under the QantasLink name.

Three Dash 8s become one

Qantas launched the programme in Albury on 25 June 2024. It said then that it would acquire 14 mid-life Dash 8-400s and gradually phase out 19 smaller Q200 and Q300 turboprops, taking its Q400 fleet from 31 to 45. As Qantas described it in October 2026, the finished programme came in at 12 aircraft and a fleet of 43.

The logic was simplicity. Qantas said folding three Dash 8 subfleets into a single type would bring scale benefits and lower maintenance and operating costs, while overall turboprop capacity would not change materially.

The 2024 figures show what passengers gain. The additional Q400s seat 78, against 50 on the Q300 and 36 on the Q200, and Qantas said the Q400 is more than 30 per cent faster than the types it replaces. The incoming aircraft were also, on average, more than 10 years younger than the ones leaving.

The older Dash 8s bowed out gradually. QantasLink’s last Q300 service was flown by VH-SBV as QF2003 from Tamworth to Sydney on 8 August 2025.

DrBear Aviation’s footage of QantasLink Dash 8-300 VH-SBV making its final landing in Sydney as the Q300 left the fleet.

What makes the Q400 different

The Dash 8 family first flew on 20 June 1983 and entered service in 1984. The Series 400 is the stretched, faster member, flying since the late 1990s and seating between 68 and 90 passengers depending on layout. De Havilland calls it the highest-capacity turboprop on the market today.

It is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprops, rated at up to 5,071 shp each for take-off, driving Dowty R408 propellers. Maximum cruise speed is 360 knots (667 km/h), 60 to 90 knots faster than earlier Dash 8s. For how a turboprop differs from a jet engine, see our turbojet, turbofan and turboprop explainer.

The “Q” stands for quiet, a name Bombardier gave to Dash 8s built after 1997. Every Q400 carries an active noise and vibration suppression system that brings cabin noise close to jet levels. The design has also changed hands several times: Boeing bought de Havilland Canada in 1986, Bombardier took over in 1992, and Longview Aviation Capital revived the De Havilland Canada name in 2019. The company says more than 630 Dash 8-400s have joined the fleets of over 75 owners and operators.

A regional lifeline

QantasLink has flown the type for two decades. It ordered seven Q400s in January 2005, and when the first arrived in January 2006, Qantas said QantasLink had become the first airline in the Southern Hemisphere to operate it. Today Sunstate flies QantasLink services across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and into Canberra, from big coastal cities to inland towns.

Qantas framed the 2024 decision as a bridge, not a final answer. Hudson said the extra Q400s would give regional communities certainty for the next decade while the airline works with manufacturers on electric or battery-powered aircraft of the right size and range for its network.

Until then, QantasLink’s turboprop network runs on a single type for the first time in decades: 43 Dash 8-400s, one of which now carries Rockhampton’s name on its nose.

Sources: Qantas (ASX release, 25 June 2024), aeroTELEGRAPH, Australian Aviation, Central Queensland Today, Airways, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada (Dash 8-400 specification sheet), Wikipedia (De Havilland Canada Dash 8; QantasLink)