DEVELOPMENT OF THE de Havilland Dash 8-400 high-speed regional turboprop will cost C$450 million ($327 million), Bombardier says, with the Canadian company performing half of the work and risk-sharing partners the rest.
Bombardier launched the stretched, 70-seat, Dash 8 at Paris with 18 firm orders, including 12 from Taiwan's Great China Airlines (Flight International, 14-20 June).
Bombardier Regional Aircraft division president, Pierre Lortie says, that agreements with risk sharing partners will be announced "in the next few weeks". First flight of the -400 is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 1997, with certification a year later and first deliveries, in the first quarter of 1999.
Pratt & Whitney Canada have already been selected to develop the engine, the PW150. Propeller and avionics supplier selections are imminent. Lortie indicates that risk-sharing partners are being sought to produce sections of the fuselage.
Source: Flight International
