Bombardier has won C$57 million ($42 million) from the Canadian Government in repayable launch aid for the 70-seat stretched -400 version of the de Havilland Dash 8. Bombardier and the government of Ottawa will fund C$400 million of the development cost, with the remaining C$200 million coming from risk-sharing partners, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Pratt &Whitney Canada. The aid will be repaid when deliveries start in around early 1999. Bombardier earlier won a Government loan of C$87 million for development of a 70-seat version of its Regional Jet. Formal launch of the programme is awaited from Bombardier.
Source: Flight International
