Renewed demand for firefighting plane

Retired from production in 2015, Canada’s DHC-515 “Canadair”, the world’s best amphibious firefighting plane, is back in production after an EU order for 22 new aircraft


Canadairs in action over southern France


EU countries ordering planes: Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain

Each plane costs around €50m


GLOBAL TREE LOSS FROM FOREST FIRES (hectares, millions)

12									2023
10									11.9m ha
8						2016 		EQUIVALENT SIZE  
6						9.6m ha		TO NORTH KOREA
4	2001
2	2.5m ha
0
	01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 2010 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2020 21 22 23


DHC-515 FIREFIGHTER

19.8m
9.9m

Scoops water from lakes or sea, filling up in 12 seconds. Can carry 6,137 litres – about 34 bathtubs full*


2015: Bombardier halts production of Canadair plane
  
2016: Facing financial woes, Bombardier sells Canadair unit to De Havilland

2019: De Havilland assess restarting production but due to high costs, need minimum number of orders

2023: EU orders enough planes to restart manufacture


*Average household bathtub holds 180 litres of water when full


Sources: Bloomberg, De Havilland 
Pictures: Getty Images, Unsplash, De Havilland 
© GRAPHIC NEWS