Ability Of Q400 To Carry More Passengers Is A Big Advantage

Speaking to Cruising HeigHts on the sidelines of the Farnborough Airshow, Francois Cognard, Vice President, Sales, Asia-Pacific, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft pointed out that the Q400 was the best suited for India’s aviation needs.

What are Bombardier plans for the Indian market related to the Q400 regional transport aircraft?

We are doing quite a lot in India and have a strong presence in the market. SpiceJet is our lead customer and purchased 25 Q400 aircraft last year with options for 25 more. SpiceJet is also the launch customer for the 90-seat Q400 variant. All the aircraft selected will be configured with 90 seats, which is the maximum we can have on the Q400. This provides a highly competitive economic advantage to the airline as the increased number of seats reduces the cost per seat by about 15 percent and generates greater revenue. This configuration with 90 seats is just not possible with our competitor ATR. We are scheduled to deliver the first 90-seater to SpiceJet in September and we want to keep them happy with the customer support as well. We will also look at some point to convert the options with the airline into firm orders. We expect to complete delivery of the 25 aircraft order to SpiceJet by around 2020.

Do you view any potential for the CRJ family in India?