Signs New Lease Terms On Eight Frames

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has reason to celebrate... as the aircraft management firm signed a new lease agreement this week with Eurowings for another BAe 146-200, as well as lease extensions on seven other BAe 146-200/300 jetliners.

The addition of the new aircraft will bring the Eurowings BAe 146 fleet to 15 aircraft when it is delivered early in 2007. The latest plane is also part of the company's JetSpares support program.

BAE says this latest agreement with Eurowings -- part of the Lufthansa Regional group -- means the quad-jet will be operated well into the next decade. Lufthansa and its regional airlines offer a two-class service on the 146s, to match up with the larger narrowbodies in the Lufthansa group fleet.

The Lufthansa Regional group is made up of five airlines: Lufthansa CityLine, Eurowings, Augsburg Airways and Contact Air of Germany, together with Air Dolomiti of Italy. Three of these carriers -- CityLine, Eurowings and Air Dolomiti -- currently operate a total of 37 Avro RJ/BAe 146s.

SWISS -- which is also part of the Lufthansa Group -- operates 25 Avro RJs to bring the total fleet operated by the Lufthansa group to 63 Avro RJ/BAe 146s, which is the world's largest fleet of Avro RJ/BAe 146s operated by one airline group.

The latest commitment to the BAe 146 family by Eurowings comes only 15 months after significant fleet additions were made by the airline and Air Dolomiti for a total of eleven BAe 146-300s, and the largest ever JetSpares support deal was agreed in January this year with the Lufthansa Regional group.

FMI: www.regional-services.com/, www.eurowings.de/en/