Bombardier's Q400 on Worldwide Demo Tour
TORONTO, ONTARIO-- FEBRUARY 19, 2004 - 11:48 ET
The aircraft will be featured at Asian Aerospace 2004 at
Singapore
Bombardier Aerospace's Q400, the world's most advanced turboprop
airliner, has departed on a demonstration tour that will parade
its outstanding capabilities before potential customers in 15
countries. The aircraft will also be showcased in the Bombardier
Aerospace static display at the Asian Aerospace 2004 air show at
the Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore from February 23-29.
The aircraft has a North American interior configuration with 70
seats at 33-inch (78 cm) pitch. The Bombardier Q400 is normally
configured with between 68 and 78 seats, however SAS Commuter of
Scandinavia operates a Bombardier Q400 with 58 seats at 35-inch
(90 cm) pitch in an all-business class configuration.
The demonstration tour is expected to cover more than 36,000
nautical miles (66,325 km) while visiting eight European
countries, two in the Middle East and five in the Far East.
The Bombardier Q400 has received rave reviews from the 11
customers who currently operate the aircraft in North America,
Europe and Asia. The Bombardier Q400 order book, including 103
firm orders, options and conditional orders, totals 193 aircraft.
As of December 31, 2003 78 had been delivered.
The Bombardier Q400 has by far the lowest seat-mile costs of any
regional airliner. It is the ideal aircraft with which to
operate a low-cost airline between regional cities. FlyBE., an
airline in the United Kingdom, operates such a service with the
Q400.
"The Bombardier Q400 can profitably serve cities with 300,000 to
800,000 population on a low-fare basis," said Barry MacKinnon,
vice-president, marketing and airline analysis, Bombardier
Aerospace, Regional Aircraft. "These centres - and there are more
of them than there are metropolitan areas - tend to have no
low-fare service. It's only a matter of time before they demand
this kind of service and in the Bombardier Q400 we have the
perfect airplane for it."
With a maximum cruise speed of 360 knots (667 km/h) at 25,000
feet (7,620 m), the Bombardier Q400 has the same block times as
an aircraft such as the Boeing 737 jet on flight sectors of about
300 nm (555 km) but burns less than half as much fuel. For this
reason, the Bombardier Q400 has replaced larger jet aircraft on
many routes and successfully competes with jets on others.
"It has become increasingly clear that the speed, comfort and
exceptional economics of the Bombardier Q400 give it a
substantial economic advantage over any other aircraft in its
class," said Mr. MacKinnon.
About Bombardier
A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation
solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail
transportation equipment, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation
headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended
Jan. 31, 2003 were $21.2 billion Cdn and its shares are traded on
the Toronto, Brussels and Frankfurt stock exchanges (BBD, BOM and
BBDd.F). News and information are available at
www.bombardier.com.
N.B. Fiscal year 2002-03 revenues have been restated following
the sale of the recreational products business.
(i) Trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Note to Editors:
Images of Bombardier Q400 aircraft are available in our web site
multimedia library at: www.aero.bombardier.com/htmen/F15.jsp |
