airBaltic increases firm CS300 order to 20 aircraft

Bombardier announced (12-Apr-2016) airBaltic converted its remaining seven options to firm, bringing airBaltic's total firm order to 20 CS300 aircraft. This agreement follows the airline's conversion of three option aircraft announced in Feb-2014. The original order for 10 firm CS300 aircraft with options for another 10 was announced on 20-Dec-2012. The carrier will be the first customer in the world to operate the CS300 aircraft when it takes delivery in 2H2016. airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said: "Our fleet modernisation continues as we proudly increase our all-new CS300 aircraft to a fleet of 20 technologically-advanced jetliners in order to support our 'Horizon 2021' business plan. This will substantially improve the connectivity of the Baltic region with Western Europe and the Eastern markets - all of which will help stimulate the economies of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, and create new jobs." Bombardier president Fred Cromer said: "We are delighted that our CS300 launch operator, airBaltic has chosen to increase its firm order position as the airline embarks on transitioning to an all-Bombardier fleet. This demonstrates the growing collaboration between our two companies." Based on the list price of the CS300 airliner, this new firm order is valued at approximately USD506 million. [more - original PR]