Company Marks A Milestone

Bombardier Aerospace recently celebrated the delivery of its 600th Bombardier Challenger® widebody business jet – an aircraft that has set the standard for comfort, productivity and value in business travel for more than two decades.

Aircraft #5557 recently rolled off Bombardier’s Challenger assembly line in Montreal and is now at Bombardier’s completion center in Tucson where it will be furnished with a customized interior. Scheduled to enter service this summer, the milestone aircraft will be utilized primarily for regional and intercontinental executive travel by an international corporation based in North America.

“This is a significant achievement for corporate aviation, for the Bombardier Challenger program and for our employees,” stated Peter Edwards, president, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “Suffice to say, this milestone is the result of many years of work by many people.

“A powerful combination of constant inputs, interest and involvement from our loyal customers – combined with our efforts to continually improve both the aircraft and our various customer support services – has resulted in a very, very fine aircraft.

Bombardier The World Over

Popular among corporations, governments, private individuals and air charter companies alike, variants of Bombardier Challenger aircraft have been sold to civil operators in more than 50 countries. The aircraft is also in government service with many countries, including, among others, Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Jordan and the FAA of the United-States.

As of Dec. 31, 2002, the fleet had accumulated more than 2.3 million flight hours while posting a dispatch reliability exceeding 99.7 percent.

The current production model, the Challenger 604, has been the best-selling large business jet since 1996. Powered by proven General Electric CF34-3B1 high by-pass turbofan engines, the Bombardier Challenger 604 can fly up to 4,077 nautical miles (7,551 km) and has a maximum cruise speed of Mach .82 (541 mph; 870 km/h). It features the widest cabin of any true business jet available today – eight feet, two inches wide (2.49 m) with a comfortable stand-up room of six feet, one inch (1.85 m).

Bombardier Aerospace recently expanded the Challenger family with the addition of the super-midsize Bombardier Challenger 300® business jet (formerly the Continental®) and the Bombardier Challenger 800 (formerly the Challenger SE®). Now approaching the end of a successful flight test program, the eight-passenger Bombardier Challenger 300 is designed to deliver best-of-class value in the super-midsize business jet category.

FMI: www.bombardier.com