Bombardier secures 97 Middle East/Africa orders in 2009

Bombardier Vice President Commercial Aircraft Programme, Benjamin Boehm, announced the company has secured 97 aircraft orders in 2009 from Middle East and African carriers, including Abu Dhabi Aviation, Felix Airways, Libyan Airlines and Tassili Airlines (Emirates Business, 24/7, 03-Dec-2009). Bombardier forecasts sales from the region to reach 870 aircraft over the next 20 years. Mr Boehm stated carriers are deploying smaller aircraft and increasing frequency. However, Mr Boehm expects orders to be slower in 2010.

Bombardier: "There isn't a carrier here in the Middle East we haven't talked to. Today you have very few A319s and B737-700s in this market. The airlines today compensate for the size of the market with frequency. So they'll do five times a week instead of three times a week. But what the business people of this region are realising is that frequency is king. You can't do frequency unless you have an optimally sized aircraft. Regional jets sometimes have their place but in this market area we do know that dual class is very important, as is size of the aircraft. This is where the CSeries comes in," Emirates Business, 24/7, 03-Dec-2009.