Bombardier Aerospace touched down at the Dubai Airshow in the UAE with an impressive line-up that includes five of its industry-leading products, as well as an interactive, state-of-the-art dome pavilion. The pavilion also housed the most recent passenger cabin demonstrator, and for the first time, a cockpit demonstrator for the all-new CSeries aircraft.
Bombardier featured a broad spectrum of its innovative products, technical expertise, and superior customer support and aircraft maintenance services. On static display was five airplanes from Bombardier’s portfolio of business and commercial aircraft, including the midsize Learjet 60 XR aircraft, the super midsize Challenger 300 jet, the wide-body Challenger 605 jet, the large cabin Challenger 850 jet and the Q400 NextGen airliner.
With business aviation in the Middle East is experiencing sustained growth. Bombardier’s latest market forecast for the aviation industry predicts a total delivery of 1,175 business jet deliveries destined for the Middle East over the next 20 years. With a solid fleet of business jets in the region, Bombardier’s Learjet, Challenger and Global jets were all represented.
Bombardier forecasts that the Middle East will continue to offer the potential to play a key role in the transformation of the aviation industry. Middle East carriers have consistently reported increased annual revenues and enplanements. While starting from a small base, Africa and Middle East deliveries will capture seven per cent, or 980, of the total 13,100 deliveries expected in the next 20 years, of aircraft in the 20- to 149-seat market segments.
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft already has a strong presence in the region with more than 180 CRJ regional jets and Dash-8/Q-Series aircraft in service or on firm order.
Bombardier also showcased a full-scale cabin and cockpit demonstrators of the CSeries jetliner. It will be the first public showing of the cockpit demonstrator.
100- to 149-seat market, the 100 per cent new CSeries family of aircraft combines advanced materials, leading-edge technology and proven methods to meet commercial airline requirements in 2013 and beyond Powered by Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1500G engines, the CSeries aircraft family will offer a 15 per cent cash operating cost advantage and a 20 per cent fuel burn advantage. The CSeries family of aircraft’s clean-sheet design is ensuring that it will achieve greatly reduced noise and emissions, as well as superior operational flexibility, exceptional airfield performance and a range of 2,950 nm (5,463 km). The CSeries aircraft will be up to 12,000 lbs (5,443 kg) lighter than other aircraft in the same seat category and will provide passengers with a best-in-class, widebody cabin environment in a single-aisle aircraft.
Bombardier is committed to putting its customers first by offering the highest level of support as close as possible to their operational bases. As part of this commitment to customers in the Middle East, Bombardier opened a full-scale Regional Support Office (RSO) in Dubai, in 2010. In 2011, the office has seen the addition of a Customer Liaison Pilot, to complement its permanent staff of a Customer Support Account Manager, two Field Service Representatives and the RSO Manager.
The RSO is located at Dubai International Airport alongside the company’s parts depot, which is operated in conjunction with ExecuJet Aviation, part of Bombardier’s Authorized Service Facility (ASF) network in the region. In 2011, Bombardier also added two more authorized facilities in the region, in Turkey and Jordan, to support business aircraft.
The RSO, authorized facilities and parts depot are at the heart of Bombardier’s comprehensive service presence in the Middle East, which further grew this year through the expansion of its PartsExpress airborne parts delivery service.