February 9, 2010
Jazz Air said on Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent to buy 15 turboprop aircraft from Bombardier, with an option to buy another 15, as the Canadian regional airline operator updates its fleet.
The Q400 NextGen aircraft will seat 74 passengers and deliveries are scheduled to begin in May 2011, Jazz said.
No financial terms were released.
Bombardier, the world's No. 3 civil aircraft maker, said it would not put a dollar figure on the deal until it was firmed up.
"We're working to finalise a firm purchase agreement on the sale of NextGen Q400 aircraft," said John Arnone, a Bombardier spokesman.
The list price on a Q400 turboprop is around USD$29 million.
Jazz, a regional carrier for Air Canada, already flies Bombardier-built Dash 8 turboprops and CRJ regional jets. The new planes will replace 15 of Jazz's 50-seat regional jets.
The Q400, an updated version of the Dash 8, is the aircraft of choice for privately held Porter Air, a regional airline that flies out of Toronto City Centre Airport. Porter currently has a monopoly on commercial flights out of the downtown airport, located just minutes from the city's financial district, on an island in Toronto harbour.
Jazz has said it wants back into the island airport, and the new turboprops, which are quieter than conventional planes and can take off and land on short runways, are seen as key to its plans.
Jazz released its results at the same time as it announced the aircraft purchase. It said operating revenue dipped 10.6 percent to CAD$351 million (USD$328 million) in the fourth quarter.
The drop came on the back of lower charges made to Air Canada, a weaker US dollar exchange rate and a reduction in departures, Jazz said.
Fourth-quarter net income was CAD$20.8 million.
(Reuters)
Jazz Air said on Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent to buy 15 turboprop aircraft from Bombardier, with an option to buy another 15, as the Canadian regional airline operator updates its fleet.
The Q400 NextGen aircraft will seat 74 passengers and deliveries are scheduled to begin in May 2011, Jazz said.
No financial terms were released.
Bombardier, the world's No. 3 civil aircraft maker, said it would not put a dollar figure on the deal until it was firmed up.
"We're working to finalise a firm purchase agreement on the sale of NextGen Q400 aircraft," said John Arnone, a Bombardier spokesman.
The list price on a Q400 turboprop is around USD$29 million.
Jazz, a regional carrier for Air Canada, already flies Bombardier-built Dash 8 turboprops and CRJ regional jets. The new planes will replace 15 of Jazz's 50-seat regional jets.
The Q400, an updated version of the Dash 8, is the aircraft of choice for privately held Porter Air, a regional airline that flies out of Toronto City Centre Airport. Porter currently has a monopoly on commercial flights out of the downtown airport, located just minutes from the city's financial district, on an island in Toronto harbour.
Jazz has said it wants back into the island airport, and the new turboprops, which are quieter than conventional planes and can take off and land on short runways, are seen as key to its plans.
Jazz released its results at the same time as it announced the aircraft purchase. It said operating revenue dipped 10.6 percent to CAD$351 million (USD$328 million) in the fourth quarter.
The drop came on the back of lower charges made to Air Canada, a weaker US dollar exchange rate and a reduction in departures, Jazz said.
Fourth-quarter net income was CAD$20.8 million.
(Reuters)