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Fairchild Dornier's All-New Airliner
To Be with Us In Just a Few Weeks
After years of anticipation, and just a few unhelpful delays,
Fairchild Dornier is getting ready to roll out the first of its
new generation of regional airliners, the 728. While business
is still steady for the smaller 328JET, the 70-seat 728 and its
larger sister-ship, the 100-seat 928, will break entirely new
ground.
Even the name is new as Fairchild Dornier has dropped the "JET"
suffix from the 728 and 928 altogether. Both families of larger
aircraft have also been rounded out, with Fairchild Dornier offering
two distinct versions of each type to customers. The first one
to appear on the scene will be the baseline 728-100, which will
be rolled out at the Oberpfaffenhoffen plant on 21 March. Following
a maiden flight in the summer, the first 728-100 will be delivered
to launch customer Lufthansa in July 2003.
Fairchild Dornier has rechristened the increased weight 728JET
as the 728-200, and this version will enter service in the first
months of 2004. While the 728-100 is powered by a pair of CF34-8D1
engines and has a range of 1,391 nm with 70 passengers, the 728-200
will be able to carry 75 passengers more than 1,811 nm, thanks
to its uprated CF34-8D3 engines and a higher MTOW of 37,990 kg
(some 2,790 kg more than the 728-100).
The third member of the 728 family, the Envoy 7 business jet,
will enter service in summer 2004. The extra time is needed chiefly
to certify the Envoy's new "super shark" winglets. The
company says it currently holds three orders (and no options)
for the Envoy 7. The order for 25 aircraft, signed with fractional
operator Flight Options in May 2000, has not passed the letter
of intent stage and so, while the contract is still active, the
company is no longer counting it among its Envoy 7 orders.
The larger Fairchild Dornier 928 will take the company up into
the big leagues, with the initial 928-100 variant able to carry
100 passengers over a 1,840 nm range. The further improved 928-200
has an increased MTOW, to carry the same number of passengers
2,224 nm. According to business development VP Barry Ecclestone,
the 928 will be "a true competitor to the lower end of the
Airbus and Boeing families." Both the 928-100 and 928200
are slated to enter service in mid-2005. The total 728/928/Envoy
7 order book stands at 125 firm orders, with 164 options.
Fairchild Dornier continues to make provision in its business
plan for a further member of the jet family, either the long-suggested
65-seat 528 (a 728 "shrink"), or perhaps a new 120-seat
928 stretch, dubbed the X28. A final decision on which end of
the market to target will come in the next two years. Ecclestone
says there are already 12 major world airlines, including "many
who are in the absolute top 10" studying the 728 and 928
families.
By Robert Hewson
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