The Maltese airline Universal Air intends to expand air traffic between Romania and Israel with four de Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft. The newcomers were bought from the lessor Nordic Aviation Capital.
As early as July 2023, the carrier announced that it had acquired several aircraft of this type. So far, the fleet has consisted of three smaller de Havilland Dash 8-100s, which are used on charter and scheduled routes in the Mediterranean region. CH-Aviation.com is now reporting that Universal Air has purchased four de Havilland Dash 8-400s from Nordic Aviation Capital. It was only recently announced that Skyalps also purchased four identical turboprop aircraft from NAC. These were formerly used by the airline company Walter.
According to Romania-Insider.com, Universal Air plans to fly de Havilland Dash 8-400 scheduled between Bucharest-Baneasa and Haifa. They also want to set course for Tel Aviv from the city airport of the Romanian capital. Likewise one wants to connect Suceava and Craiova with the two airports in Israel.
The additional aircraft are also to be used selectively on existing scheduled and charter routes. Company boss Simon Cook cites routes on which you can achieve a high occupancy rate with the Dash 8-100 as an example.