Largest Of The CRJ Family Approved To Fly

Transport Canada and the European Aviation Safety Agency have awarded Aircraft Type Certificates for the 100-seat CRJ1000 NextGen regional jet. 

File Photo

Bombardier Aerospace said Wednesday that this largest member of the CRJ Series family of regional jets was officially launched on February 19, 2007 to meet the demand of regional airlines for increased capacity and lower seat-mile costs in the face of sustained higher fuel prices. The CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft’s flight test program was conducted from the Bombardier Flight Test Centre in Wichita, Kansas, and the flight test aircraft accumulated approximately 1,400 flight hours in 470 test missions. The prototype CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft, serial number 19991, successfully made its inaugural flight from Bombardier’s facility in Mirabel, Québec on September 3, 2008.

All CRJ models have the same type rating, in addition to common maintenance and training, spares and ground support equipment, providing the only true family of jetliners spanning 50 to 100 seats. “I do not think anyone 20 years ago would have envisaged how the regional jet would transform the airline industry all over the world,” said Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “We are proud to have introduced the regional jet and we are proud of our ability to read the market and have larger and more cost-effective regional jets as the market required them. This ability has culminated in the production of the magnificent CRJ1000 NextGen regional jet.”

Bombardier has booked firm orders for 49 CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft, including 35 from Air Nostrum of Spain and 14 from Brit Air of France. The CRJ NextGen family of aircraft is a benchmark for regional jet efficiency in the 60- to 100-seat segment and is the optimized solution for medium-haul applications. Bombardier has recorded firm orders for a total of 1,709 CRJ Series aircraft. As of July 31, 2010, 1,597 of these CRJ Series aircraft had been delivered to customers around the world. CRJ Series aircraft are in service with more than 60 airlines and have logged more than 28 million flight hours and over 23 million take-off and landing cycles. In addition, corporate variants of CRJ Series aircraft are in service with more than 30 operators.

FMI: www.bombardier.com