Jazz Air Parent Chorus Aviation Orders Six Q400 NextGens

Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Chorus Aviation Inc., the parent company of Jazz Aviation LP, has placed a firm order for six Bombardier Q400 NextGen airliners.

The transaction involves the conversion to firm orders of six of the 15 options taken by Jazz Air when it placed its original order for 15 Q400 NextGens, announced on April 30, 2010. Jazz will operate the aircraft under the Air Canada Express banner.

Based on the list price of the Bombardier Q400 NextGen, the manufacturer values the order at approximately US$189 million. Bombardier announced the deal on July 12, during the Farnborough International Airshow 2012.

Bombardier Aerospace announced on July 12, 2012, during the Farnborough International Airshow 2012, that Jazz Aviation's parent Chorus Aviation had placed a firm order for six Q400 NextGen regional airliners. The deal involved conversion of six of 15 options previously taken by Jazz when it placed its original order for 15 Q400 NextGens

“We just took delivery of our 15th Q400 aircraft and we are very pleased to set in motion the acquisition of the next batch of aircraft to continue the modernization of the Jazz Aviation fleet serving our customer Air Canada and its passengers,” says Joseph Randell, president and chief executive officer of Jazz Aviation LP.

“The Q400 NextGen airliner is a perfect complement to our fleet of Bombardier turboprops and regional jets and has served us extremely well from coast to coast on routes in Canada and the United States,” adds Randell.

“Jazz has the distinction of being Canada’s largest regional airline, serving over 80 destinations in Canada and the United States. Its selection of the Q400 NextGen turboprop is an endorsement of the aircraft’s unparalleled performance in short- and medium-haul regional airline service,” says Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

Air Canada Express franchisee Jazz (often known as Jazz Air), which flies Bombardier aircraft exclusively and is the world’s largest operator of Dash 8/Q-Series aircraft, accepted Bombardier’s milestone 400th Q400 in June 2012.

The carrier’s current fleet includes 80 Dash 8/Q-Series turboprops and 51 Bombardier CRJ-series regional jets. Jazz is the second -largest airline in Canada in terms of fleet size and number of routes flown and forms an integral part of Air Canada’s domestic and Canada-U.S. transborder market presence and strategy.

Including the Chorus Aviation order, Bombardier has booked firm orders for 434 Q400 and Q400 NextGen airliners and already-delivered aircraft are in service with approximately 40 operators in 30 countries, on six continents.

These aircraft have transported more than 177 million passengers and have logged more than 3.2 million flight hours and over 3.5 million take-offs and landings.