Has Options For Two More Aircraft

On Monday, Bombardier Aerospace announced it has received one firm order and two options for Bombardier Challenger 604 widebody aircraft from the FAA for use in runway and airway calibration and other special missions.

The new aircraft will join a fleet of three Bombardier Challenger 601-3R jets and six Bombardier Learjet 60 midsize aircraft currently being used by the FAA for civil and military runway calibration worldwide. It is scheduled for delivery in November 2004. The aircraft will be produced at Bombardier’s facility in Montreal, and outfitted with a special mission interior at a completion center in the United States.

The FAA took delivery of its first of three Bombardier Challenger 601-3R for use in a multi-role capability in 1993. The aircraft are based at Oklahoma City and used mainly for worldwide runway calibration missions. Several Bombardier Challenger aircraft are currently in multi-role service in Canada, Denmark and the Republic of South Korea. It is also used as a head of state aircraft in Australia, China, Germany, Jordan, Korea, and Malaysia.

First certified by Transport Canada in September 1995, the Challenger 604 is the fifth and most advanced Challenger model to date, with a maximum range of 4,027 nautical miles. Over 600 Bombardier Challenger aircraft have been delivered to date, including 269 of the popular Bombardier Challenger 604, the current production model. Bombardier claims that since receiving Transport Canada type approval in August 1980, the Bombardier Challenger family of aircraft has been sold to operators in more than 50 countries and by the end of October 2003, the fleet had flown more than 2.49 million hours with a dispatch reliability in excess of 99.74 per cent.

FMI: www.aero.bombardier.com