Flybe Orders 15 More Bombardier Q400s

British regional airline Flybe has ordered 15 more Bombardier Q400 high-speed turboprop airliners in a deal the manufacturer values at nearly $400 million.

The airline has also taken options on 15 additional Q400s.

Bombardier values the 15 firm aircraft at $394 based on the Q400's list price, though it is common for volume customers for any manufacturer's airliners to be able to negotiate discounts from full price.

Exeter, England-based Flybe already is the world's largest operator of the Q400, which typically seats 70 people but can seat up to 78 depending on cabin configuration. Deliveries of the 15 firm-order Q400s will increase Flybe's fleet of the type to 60 and if the carrier exercises the options it took today its fleet of Q400s will reach 75 aircraft.

The UK carrier was probably the first airline worldwide to build a low-cost airline business model based on a turboprop rather than a jet airliner. It did so by taking advantage of the high-speed cruise performance of the Q400, which on flights of up to two hours is almost as fast as a jet.

"The introduction of the Bombardier Q400 aircraft has played a key role in the turn-around of the business due to its customer appeal and economics," noted Jim French, Flybe's chairman and chief executive officer. "For the future, though, most importantly its environmental credentials are exceptional. It is one of the quietest and most effective aircraft, ideally suited for the regional markets of the world."

Flybe continued innovating in 2005 by becoming the first customer for the Embraer 195, the longest-fuselage version of the Brazilian manufacturer's new E-Jet family of regional jet airliners. Flybe ordered 14 Embraer 195s and optioned 12 more and recently took delivery of its first of the type.

The British carrier's innovative ways have continued into 2007. In March Flybe acquired British Airways' regional airline subsidiary BA Connect in a deal that not only saw BA take a 15 percent share in Flybe but also made fast-growing Flybe the largest regional airline in Europe.

Following the BA Connect acquisition, Flybe is operating 152 routes from 22 airports in the UK and 34 in Europe.

Flybe decided to replace over time the 50-seat regional jets that BA Connect has been flying and it is possible the additional Q400s Flybe has ordered today will partly act as replacements for the existing BA Connect fleet.

Another innovation that Flybe is now introducing is to identify clearly to people making flight reservations with it the environmental performance of the aircraft types operating the flights they are booking. In this way Flybe hopes to emphasize the superior environmental performance of the aircraft types it operates compared with the older and larger aircraft that many carriers use on intra-Europe routes.

The airline has said it plans to be operating a fleet of at least 80 aircraft by 2010. All of them will be Q400s or Embraer 195s, which as

Today's Flybe order increases the total orderbook for the Q400 to 245 aircraft. While Bombardier is headquartered in Montreal, its final assembly line for the Q400 is at Downsview airport in metropolitan Toronto.

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