US-German regional aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier scored the show's most significant coup with the launch of its 528/728/928JET family and the confirmation of conditional orders for 165 aircraft.
The announcement came alongside the launch of the 42/44-seat 428JETstretched version of the company's 328JET.
Apart from confirmation by Lufthansa CityLine and Crossair that the two regional airlines intend to place 60 firm orders with 60 options each for the 70-seat 728JET based family, Fairchild Dornier announced Eurowings' intention to place 30 firm orders, as well as a further 15 from French 328JETlaunch customer Proteus. All are subject to approval from the airline boards, with final decisions due to be taken during the third quarter of this year.
Deliveries are to begin in mid-2001. The airlines have not yet decided how their orders will be divided among the various types in the family.
Fairchild Dornier claims that it needs to sell 200 aircraft to break even on the programme. The total investment required from the company and its risk-sharing partners will be $850 million. The 728JET, which will be the first to fly, in March 2000, is to be offered at a list price of $20 million.
The 728JET is scheduled to be certificated in 2001, with approval of the 55-seat 528JET coming 14 months later, and that for the 90/95-seat 928JET14 months afterwards. Fairchild Dornier anticipates producing six 728JETs in 2001, ramping up to five aircraft a month.
The company is in talks with potential risk-sharing partners which cover the bulk of the aircraft's structure, including wings, fuselage and empennage packages. The aircraft will be assembled at Fairchild Dornier's Oberpfaffenhofen plant.
Development funds could be provided by the Bavarian state and federal governments. Flight International sister on-line service Air Transport Intelligence reported on 20 May that Fairchild Dornier parent Fairchild Aerospace is preparing to raise cash through a share offer in the privately held company.
Powerplant candidates include the General Electric CF34-8D and Snecma/Pratt & Whitney Canada SPW14. The manufacturer also confirms that the 928JET could later be stretched to a 110-seat configuration, but senior vice-president for product development Earl Robinson says that "-this is market-driven -[and] does not have the same level of definition" as the 728JET family. Crossair and Eurowings have expressed strong interest in stretching the family.
Crossair chief executive Moritz Suter says that the 110-seater "-plays a very important role" in the airline's fleet replacement strategy, as an eventual successor to the carrier's 95-seat Avros. CityLine chief Karl-Heinz Köpfle says, however, that his airline's main focus remains on the smaller 728JETand 528JET, although it also emerged at the show that the Lufthansa subsidiary has not ruled out the possibility of ordering 70-seat Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) Series 700s on routes where it needs commonality with its existing 50-seat CRJ fleet.
Münster-based regional carrier EuroCityLine has placed nine firm orders and six options for the 328JET, along with three 328 turboprops. The nine jets are to be delivered within 18 months, while the turboprops will arrive in September and October.
Source: Flight International
