List of de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operators

The Twin Otter was and is used by dozens of airlines and militaries around the world, and was produced in three main series (100, 200, 300) until 1988.

As of 2006, over 40 years after design and manufacturing work on the original DHC-6 began, more than 500 of this aircraft were still flying. In that year Viking Air purchased the type certificate for the DHC-6 and announced its intention to offer a new build Series 400 Twin Otter.

Current civil operators
In 2016, there were 281 Twin Otters in airline service with 26 new aircraft on order: 112 in North/South America, 106 in Asia Pacific & Middle East (16 orders), 38 in Europe (10 orders) and 25 in Africa.

A total of 270 Twin Otters were in airline service in 2018, and 14 on order: 111 in North/South America, 117 in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East (14 orders), 26 in Europe and 13 in Africa.

In 2020, there were a total of 315 Twin Otters worldwide with 220 in service, 95 in storage and 8 on order. By region there were 22 in Africa, 142 in Asia Pacific (8 orders), 37 in Europe, 4 in the Middle East and 110 in the Americas.

As of February 2023, there were 108 Twin Otters registered in Canada.

Historical civil operators


♠ original operators

Former operators are listed where possible.


 * 🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda
 * Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) ♠ - former operator
 * Aeropelican
 * Air Queensland
 * Flight West Airlines
 * MacRobertson Miller Airlines
 * Skywest Airlines
 * Sunstate Airlines
 * Trans Australia Airlines
 * AirWest Airlines (Canada)
 * Athabaska Airlines ♠
 * Austin Airways
 * Bradley Air Services - (now First Air)
 * Bradley Air Services - (now First Air)
 * Calm Air International
 * Georgian Bay Airlines ♠
 * Kenn Borek Air
 * Labrador Airways
 * Midwest Airlines ♠
 * Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario) ♠ - forest firefighting
 * NorOntair
 * Northwood Airlines ♠
 * Pacific Western Airlines (PWA) - former operator
 * Ptarmigan Airways - former operator (merged into First Air)
 * Sabourin Lake Airways
 * Sander Geophysics
 * Transport Canada - former operator, 15 aircraft
 * Time Air
 * Wardair Canada ♠ - former operator


 * 🇨🇻 Cape Verde
 * TACV Cabo Verde Airlines


 * ACES Colombia
 * ACES Colombia


 * 🇨🇬 congo
 * Lina Congo


 * 🇩🇯 Djibouti
 * Air Djibouti


 * 🇫🇷 France
 * Air Alpes ♠
 * Air Calédonie
 * Air Caraïbes - a DHC-6-300 crashed in March 2001 near Saint Barthélemy airport
 * Air Guadeloupe
 * Air Polynesie (now Air Tahiti)


 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * Delta Air
 * DLT
 * HADAG Air


 * Guyana Airways
 * Guyana Airways


 * Merpati Nusantara Airlines ♠
 * Merpati Nusantara Airlines ♠


 * 🇮🇱 Israel
 * SkyKef
 * Ayit Aviation and Tourism


 * Aeralpi
 * Aeralpi


 * Laos
 * Lao Air


 * 🇲🇬 Madagascar
 * Air Madagascar


 * 🇲🇻 Maldives
 * Maldivian


 * 🇲🇱 Mali
 * Air Mali


 * 🇲🇽 Mexico
 * Aeronaves de Mexico♠ and successor Aeromexico
 * Transportes Aereos Terrestes♠


 * Widerøe♠ - former operator
 * Widerøe♠ - former operator


 * Pakistan International Airlines - former operator
 * Pakistan International Airlines - former operator


 * Ansett Airlines of Papua New Guinea - former operator
 * Ansett Airlines of Papua New Guinea - former operator


 * Spantax ♠
 * Spantax ♠


 * Air Commuter ♠ - former operator
 * Air New England
 * Air North
 * Alaska Aeronautical Industries (AAI)
 * Air Wisconsin ♠ - former operator
 * Crown Airways
 * Frontier Airlines
 * Golden West Airlines
 * Hawaii Jet-Air ♠ - former operator
 * Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) ♠ - former operator (acquired by Wien Air Alaska which in turn continued to operate these DHC-6 aircraft).
 * Pilgrim Airlines ♠ - former operator (acquired by Business Express)
 * Rocky Mountain Airways
 * Trans East International ♠ - former operator
 * Trans East International ♠ - former operator

Military and government operators
Including police users.


 * Argentine Air Force (Marambio Base) / LADE
 * Argentine Army
 * Argentine Navy
 * Argentine Navy


 * 2 Australian Antarctic Division - leased from Kenn Borek Air
 * 3 Australian Army - former operator, leased aircraft with civil registration
 * 2 Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service - former operator, leased from Trans Australia Airlines
 * 2 Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service - former operator, leased from Trans Australia Airlines


 * 1 Benin Air Force
 * 1 Benin Air Force


 * 4 Royal Canadian Air Force (formerly Canadian Forces) - CC-138s (DHC-6-300s) - Operated by 440 Transport Squadron in Yellowknife, NT
 * 1 Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources - former operator
 * 1 Ontario Provincial Police - former operator
 * 1 Transport Canada - former operator
 * 1 Transport Canada - former operator


 * 11 Chilean Air Force
 * 11 Chilean Air Force


 * Colombian National Police
 * Colombian National Police


 * 2 Home Guard (Denmark) to be in delivered in 2024
 * 2 Home Guard (Denmark) to be in delivered in 2024


 * 2 Ecuadorian Air Force (TAME)
 * 2 Ecuadorian Air Force (TAME)


 * 2 Ethiopian Air Force loaned from Army
 * 2 Ethiopian Air Force loaned from Army


 * 5 French Air and Space Force
 * 5 French Air and Space Force


 * 1 Haitian Air Force
 * 1 Haitian Air Force


 * ? (retired) Jamaica Defence Force
 * ? (retired) Jamaica Defence Force


 * ? (retired) Nepalese Army Air Service
 * Nepalese Royal Flight
 * Nepalese Royal Flight


 * Royal Norwegian Air Force (Retired from active service)
 * Royal Norwegian Air Force (Retired from active service)


 * Panamanian Public Forces 1 (Army until 1988)
 * National Air and Naval Service of Panama
 * National Air and Naval Service of Panama


 * Paraguayan Air Force (retired)
 * Paraguayan Air Force (retired)


 * Peruvian Air Force (12 series -400 recently purchased)
 * Peruvian Air Force (12 series -400 recently purchased)


 * Sudanese Air Force - one photo survey aircraft operated by Sudan Airways for the air force.
 * Sudanese Air Force - one photo survey aircraft operated by Sudan Airways for the air force.


 * Royal Thai Police
 * Royal Thai Police


 * Uganda Police Force Air Wing
 * Uganda Police Force Air Wing


 * 4 British Antarctic Survey
 * 4 British Antarctic Survey


 * 6 Alaska National Guard - UV-18A former operator
 * 1 Federal Aviation Administration - former operator, leased from Transport Canada
 * 1 NASA
 * 4 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
 * 3 United States Air Force - UV-18B used by United States Air Force Academy for the Academy Parachute Team
 * 3 United States Army - UV-18C
 * 1 United States Navy - UV-18A used by the United States Naval Research Laboratory
 * 1 United States Navy - UV-18A used by the United States Naval Research Laboratory


 * 6 Vietnamese People's Navy
 * 6 Vietnamese People's Navy