Airlines

SAS orders 27 Bombardier aircraft in Q400 settlement deal

By Nicholas Ionides

SAS and three of its affiliate airlines are to order 27 regional jet and turboprop aircraft from Bombardier as part of a compensation deal related to problems faced last year with Q400 turboprops.

The Scandinavian airline group and Bombardier say in separate statements that the deal covers firm orders for 27 aircraft plus options for 24 more.

Bombardier says SAS and Estonian Air have placed firm orders for 13 CRJ900 NextGen regional jets and taken options on another 17. Widerøe and AirBaltic have ordered 14 Q400 NextGen turboprops and taken options for seven more.

SAS says the orders are part of a settlement agreement with Bombardier and Goodrich regarding landing gear incidents last year with its Q400s that resulted in the grounding of the fleet.

“The details of the agreement are confidential but SAS Group confirms the total financial compensation is slightly more than SEK 1 billion ($164 million) in the form of a cash payment and credits for future firm and optional aircraft orders,” it says.

“As part of the agreement, the board of directors of SAS has approved an order for 27 aircraft, with an option for a further 24 aircraft.”

Deliveries are to begin in the autumn of this year and continue until 2011, it says.

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news