11:08
rwandaexpress
National carrier RwandAir announced March 19 that it has placed a firm order for two CRJ900 NextGen regional jets with Bombardier Aerospace.
The transaction also includes options on two additional CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. RwandAir will become the first operator of CRJ900 aircraft in Eastern Africa.
Based on the list price of the CRJ900 NextGen airliner, the firm-order contract is valued at approximately $89 million US. The value of the contract would increase to $185 million US should both options be exercised.
“Our two 50-seat CRJ200 aircraft have performed very well for us and have helped grow our business to the point that we require aircraft with more capacity”, said John Mirenge, Chief Executive Officer, RwandAir.
“Based on our experience with the CRJ200 aircraft, the dual-class 75-seat CRJ900 NextGen aircraft was the logical upgrade. CRJ900 NextGen aircraft also provide exceptional reliability and have much in common with other CRJ aircraft. These aircraft will be configured to have 7 business class seats and 68 economy class seats.
p. Other key factors that contributed to our decision to choose the CRJ900 NextGen aircraft are Bombardier’s customer support offering and cooperation in further developing RwandAir’s technical capacity,” added Mirenge.
p. Other key factors that contributed to our decision to choose the CRJ900 NextGen aircraft are Bombardier’s customer support offering and cooperation in further developing RwandAir’s technical capacity,” added Mirenge.
Mike Arcamone, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft said: “In the CRJ900 NextGen regional jet, RwandAir will have an aircraft with the best economics in its class”.
The aircraft is of the ideal size to allow the airline to connect its regional markets that have become too large for smaller aircraft, but too small for RwandAir’s larger jets to serve efficiently.
Operating from Kigali as its hub, RwandAir’s fleet includes two Boeing 737-800NG, two Boeing737-500, and a Dash8-200. The carrier serves most East African Community capital cities with daily flights and it flies to Johannesburg, Brazzaville, Libreville and Dubai.
There are currently more than 200 Bombardier regional jet and turboprop aircraft in service with, or on firm order from, approximately 50 operators in the Middle East and Africa. Bombardier’s Commercial Aircraft Market Forecast for the period 2011-2030 projects that the fleet of Bombardier commercial aircraft in the Middle East and Africa will continue to grow, forecasting deliveries of 980 aircraft, or seven per cent of the worldwide total of 13,000 units in the 20- to 149-seat market segments during that period.
Including the order from RwandAir, Bombardier has recorded firm orders for 1,711 CRJ Series aircraft (including 268 CRJ900 and CRJ900 NextGen aircraft), with 1,661 aircraft delivered as of December 31, 2011.
0 comments:
Post a Comment