The Dash 8-100, a descendent of DeHavilland's earlier Dash 7, was first put into airline service in 1984. The Dash 8-200 and 300 series, developed in the following years, have a common type rating to the original 100 seriers, allowing pilots trained in one series, to fly the other two as well. As of 1994, the Dash 8 fleet had logged in more than 2 million flight hours with a dispatch reliability exceeding 99 precent.

The Dash-8 is made by the DeHavilland company of Canada.