Bombardier lands firm orders for seven aircraft worth US$261M
by The Canadian Press
Hawaii's Island Air, Asia's China Express Airlines and Nok Air placed orders for regional aircraft
MONTREAL—Bombardier Inc. has received firm orders for seven commercial aircraft valued at nearly US$261-million from Hawaii’s leading regional airline and two in Asia.
Island Air placed a firm order for two Q400 NextGen turboprops and has taken options for four additional dual-class 71-seat planes.
The firm orders are valued at US$61-million at list prices and could increase to US$188-million if all options are exercised.
Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air has converted options for two Q400s valued at US$64-million at list price.
The airline is the first customer for the new 86-seat version of the turboprop.
China Express Airlines has also converted a conditional order for three CRJ900 NextGen regional jets valued at US$136-million.
The airline placed a firm order in December for three of the planes and conditional purchase agreement and options for 13 more aircraft.
The sales follow last week’s announcement that the Montreal-based aircraft manufacturer sold eight aircraft valued at US$326-million, including WestJet’s conversion of five options for Q400 turboprops.
Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service said it has upgraded Bombardier’s speculative grade liquidity rating to SGL-2 and assigned a Ba3 rating to its proposed new senior unsecured notes due in 2019 and 2022.
The notes will boost its cash by US$500-million to US$3.9-billion after paying off US$1.3-billion of existing debt due by 2016.
