Oriental Air Bridge, a Nagasaki-based regional airline primarily connecting mainland Kyushu with Nagasaki’s outlying islands, announced on June 20, 2024, that it will retire its last Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 at the end of June, with the type’s last flights with the airline being scheduled to operate on June 30, 2024.
On its last day of operation, Oriental Air Bridge’s last Dash 8 Q200, JA803B, will operate flights from Nagasaki to three outlying islands as follows:
- OC51 / Nagasaki – Tajima / 9:15AM – 9:50AM
- OC52 / Tajima – Nagasaki / 10:20AM – 11:00AM
- OC75 / Nagasaki – Fukue / 11:40AM – 12:10PM
- OC76 / Fukue – Nagasaki / 12:40PM – 1:10PM
- OC43 / Nagasaki – Iki / 3:40PM – 4:10PM
- OC44 / Iki – Nagasaki / 4:40PM – 5:10PM
Oriental Air Bridge acquired JA803B, a former Horizon Air and CommuteAir airframe, in 2020. In the past, it operated two other airframes of the type, both acquired brand new in 2001. The first, JA801B, was retired in 2022, while the second, JA802B, followed a year later. Both have been replaced by ATR 42 aircraft, of which the airline now operates two. In addition to the ATRs, the airline also uses Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s leased from ANA Wings.
While the Dash 8 Q200 is equipped with 39 seats, the ATR 42 is equipped with 48 seats and the Dash 8 Q400 with 74 seats.
