MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON
Bombardier secures most regional jet orders but sector braced for first fall in production since era began 10 years ago
Orders for regional aircraft fell by more than half last year to 400 as the brakes were finally applied to this booming sector. And deliveries, which had been experiencing 20% growth rates, levelled off at the 430-aircraft mark as jet output growth slowed and turboprop production was cut further.
Regional jet orders made up most of the sales at 85% (338 aircraft) as the market for turboprops continued to contract. Fifty-nine turboprops were sold in 2001, almost 30% down on 2000. Regional jets also continued their market expansion in output terms, the 342 deliveries making up 78% of the total. It was 72% in 2000.
Bombardier was the clear winner in the regional jet sector, taking 230 orders for its CRJ family, slightly better than it fared in 2000. Embraer had a relatively barren 12 months, securing just 30 orders net of cancellations. This was a dramatic fall: the Brazilian manufacturer secured 418 net sales in 2000.
Overall, regional jet deliveries increased by 13% in 2001, butoutput is expected to decline this year to the 2000 level of around 300 aircraft. It would be the first fall since the regional jet era began 10 years ago.
Last year's output rise was due to an increase in shipments at Bombardier of the baseline 50-seat CRJ and the arrival of the larger CRJ700. But Embraer again took the regional jet output honours with its 153 ERJ deliveries, just ahead of Bombardier's 148 CRJs.
Fairchild Dornier had a flat year, with delivery and order intake levels similar to 2000. BAE Systems, which decided to exit the regional market last year, sold 12 of the updated RJ-X model before the programme was cancelled in November. The manufacturer still has four whitetail Avro RJs to find homes for this year. They are not included in its backlog figures.
Efforts to boost the sales of new-generation 70-100 seat regional jets - the Embraer 170/190 family and Fairchild Dornier 728/928 - were hit badly by the 11 September attacks.
Several sales campaigns have been shelved pending a clearer picture on recovery. Orders for these families remain stalled.
In a market that continues to suffer from the onslaught of small jets, ATR and Bombardier are now the only serious producers of turboprops. Deliveries in this sector continue to fall, with the 2001 tally, 92, down 20% on 2000.
ATR's performance in 2001 was similar to 2000:it sold 25 aircraft and delivered 20. Production of Bombardier's Dash 8 family rose by more than 50% to 55 aircraft as deliveries of the 70-seat high-speed Q400 gathered momentum. But Dash 8 net sales slumped from 41 aircraft in 2000 to 12 in 2001.
The regional aircraft order backlog has declined by 7% on the previous year to 1,319 aircraft. Of these, 93% are regional jets because turboprop builders now have short lead times from order to delivery.
Source: Flight International
