SkyAlps’ troubles worsen
March 25, 2025
The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) temporarily grounded seven De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q402Q turboprops flown by regional airline SkyAlps after its inspectors made an audit of the carrier at its headquarters from 26-28 February 2025.
Reports suggest that the audit discovered ‘several non-conformities’, allegedly including the fact that regular scheduled maintenance had not been carried out and that maintenance records had been falsified. ENAC said only that: “The discrepancies highlighted the existence of deficiencies in the aircraft maintenance certifications with respect to the flight safety regulatory requirements set by EU Regulation 1321/2012.”
“For these aircraft, the return to service may take place after completing the appropriate corrective actions,” ENAC said.
Press reports indicated that one technician responsible for aircraft maintenance was found to be not compliant with regulations and was subsequently banned from accessing airports where SkyAlps operates.
Although SkyAlps had outsourced the maintenance, the airline remained legally responsible.
SkyAlps operates a fleet of fourteen DHC-8-402Qs Ten are on the Maltese register, with the final four registered in Austria. Eight of the aircraft were active before the grounding, with six aircraft stored, having not yet entered service.
This left the airline with just one aircraft, prompting a scramble for wet-lease capacity to cover for the grounded aircraft. On 18 March, the newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Italian Ministry of Justice had decided to open a criminal investigation into the airline.
