Bombardier Sells 15 Q400 NextGen Aircraft to India's SpiceJet
“Comfortably greener” Q400 NextGen aircraft program surpasses 400 orders
Bombardier Aerospace announced today that SpiceJet of Gurgaon, India has placed a firm order for 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and has taken options on an additional 15 airliners.
Based on the list price for the Q400 NextGen aircraft, the firm order is valued at approximately $446 million US, and could increase to approximately $915 million US if all 15 options are converted to firm orders.
“India is witnessing substantial growth, and predominant growth is expected from cities and industrial towns which remain underserved,” said Kalanithi Maran, Chairman of the Board of Directors, SpiceJet. “As India’s most preferred low-fare airline, we are focused on catering to these markets which require an aircraft that could increase the reach to over 60 airports that could not be served by the larger jets and establishing our footprint in these markets. After an evaluation of all the aircraft in the 60- to 80-seat category, we have selected the Q400 NextGen airliner, which combines excellent reliability, economics and passenger comfort.”
“This is a very important order for us as it establishes the Q400 NextGen airliner in India,” said Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “We expect India to take delivery of 600 commercial aircraft in the 20- to 149-seat category over the next 20 years, and we believe our optimized Q400 NextGen turboprop, CRJ Series regional jets and all-new CSeries aircraft are ideally suited to capture a sizeable portion of those deliveries.
“At this time, when new airports are being commissioned by the Indian Government, Bombardier is uniquely positioned to support the development of India’s airline network,” added Mr. Scott.
SpiceJet currently serves 22 destinations in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Bombardier is making significant investments in the infrastructure for its support and services in India and the Asia-Pacific marketplace. Earlier this year, Bombardier opened its new Regional Support Office (RSO) in Mumbai. This office serves both business and commercial aircraft customers and is located in Andheri East near the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The RSO’s dedicated team complements Bombardier’s regional Field Service Representatives located throughout India and its surrounding regions.
Bombardier’s plan to establish strategically located RSOs is designed to provide a comprehensive support package encompassing aircraft technical expertise, flight operations support and customer account management functions. As a result of the proximity to its operators’ bases, Bombardier can provide enhanced service to customers in their language and time zone.
Q400 NextGen aircraft
Optimized for short-haul operations, the “comfortably greener,” 70- to 80-seat Q400 NextGen aircraft is a large, fast, quiet and fuel-efficient turboprop. It provides an ideal balance of passenger comfort and operating economics with a reduced environmental footprint. Including SpiceJet’s order, Bombardier has booked firm orders for a total of 404 Q400 and Q400 NextGen aircraft, and as of October 31, 2010, 322 had been delivered. Q400 and Q400 NextGen aircraft are in service with more than 30 operators worldwide and have logged more than 2 million flight hours and over 2 million landing and take-off cycles. Bombardier recently delivered the 1,000th Dash 8/Q-Series turboprop - a Q400 NextGen airliner. This milestone delivery re-confirmed the Dash 8/Q-Series turboprop program as one of the most successful regional aircraft programs in history.
Source: BOMBARDIER
