China Express Airlines places firm order for three more Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen Airliners

China Express Airlines and Bombardier Aerospace announced (31-Mar-2014) that the Chongqing-based carrier has converted previously announced conditional purchase agreements for three CRJ900 NextGen regional jets into a firm order. The conditional purchase agreements for five CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, with options on an additional eight CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, were announced on 02-Dec-2013 along with a firm order for three CRJ900s. Based on list price, the firm order for the three CRJ900 NextGen aircraft is valued at approximately USD136 million. China Express president Wu Longjiang commented, "China Express' CRJ900 NextGen regional jets have proven to be highly reliable and efficient following their introduction to our fleet in 2012 and our company has entered a rapid expansion period. With its outstanding 99.67 per cent dispatch reliability and unmatched fuel efficiency, the CRJ900 NextGen airliner has surpassed our expectations... According to our business plan, we intend to be flying an all-Bombardier fleet of 29 aircraft by 2016. That's just 10 years after we started operations and is an indication of the high productivity of the CRJ900 NextGen aircraft." China Express currently has a fleet of five CRJ200 aircraft and nine 84-seat CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. The airline was the first to operate the CRJ900 aircraft in the country. [more - original PR]