Bombardier Clelebrates 'Superb' Year,
Steps Up Service, Completion Efforts

Sales of business aircraft are set to hit another record for Bombardier in 2000. As of June 30, the company had delivered a total of 116 business jets, which represents a 38% increase from the 84 aircraft it delivered in the first half of last year. Bombardier delivered 61 business jets in the first calendar quarter and 55 jets in the second, up 46 and 38 aircraft respectively from 1999.

"Last year was a superb year for our business aircraft organization-a year in which we delivered 173 aircraft and clearly established Bombardier as the revenue leader in corporate aviation," said Robert Gillespie, president of Bombardier Aerospace's Business Aircraft group. "And now we're on track to raise the standard even higher with yet another record performance."

In order to speed delivery of its business jets to customers around the world, Bombardier has received approval for an impressive number of Supplemental Type Certificates that lets the manufacturer complete aircraft itself.

In addition, the company's Tucson Completion Center-which specializes in paint and interiors for the entire family of Bombardier business jets-was named by FAA as a Designated Alteration Station, meaning the facility can design and certify its own modifications.

A total of 65 STCs were completed by Bombardier in 1999, primarily for avionics upgrades and completion installations. The company expects to receive 65-70 STCs in 2000, and currently holds more than 290 active STCs overall.

Bombardier Aerospace services more than 400 aircraft each month, more than double the number it handled in its initial year.

The company also continued to increase its penetration of the European business aircraft market in the past year. The company has scored European sales for all its major products: the Learjet 45 and 60, Global Express, Challenger 604 and the under-development Continental, according to regional VP of sales Alain Ledoux.

There are currently more than 170 Bombardier business jets in operation throughout Europe.

They are serviced by a growing infrastructure of service and parts facilities, led by Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) that was founded in 1997 at Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport. Other European maintenance centers are in England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, and spare parts depots have been opened at London-Heathrow Airport and at LBAS.

On the fractional ownership side of the business, Bombardier continues to add aircraft to its Flexjet program. The first two Global Express business jets will join the program around the time of this year's NBAA, to be joined eventually by 20 more of the ultra-long-range aircraft.

Bombardier's newest aircraft, the super midsize Continental, has also been ordered for Flexjet, with 25 units planned.

Bombardier has also expanded its European Flexjet fractional ownership program by adding sales offices in Munich and Paris to complement those in London and Copenhagen. Launched at the 1999 Paris Air Show, the current European Flexjet fleet includes comprises two Learjet 31As, four Learjet 60s and one Challenger.

At the same time, Bombardier is slowly working to expand its influence in the Middle East region-along with help from TAG Aeronautics. The 50th Global Express off the assembly line is destined for an un-named operator in the region.

TAG Aeronautics, a subsidiary of TAG Aviation, is Bombardier's exclusive distributor in the Middle East for the Challenger 604, Global Express, Canadair Regional Jet and CRJ700.

Bombardier's recent sale of a Global Express to Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau for use in flight inspection and calibration is the latest in a series of contracts to corporate jet operators and regional airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. In the last year or so, Bombardier has sold five CRJ200 regional airliners to Shandong Airlines, three Dash 8 Q400 turboprops to Changan Airlines in central China, three Dash 8 Q300 turboprops to Tokyo's Air Nippon, one Dash 8 Q100 airliner to Ryukyu Air Commuter of Okinawa and two Dash 8 Q200s to Surveillance Australia for coastal watch.

By Barry Rosenberg