Andrew Doyle/FRANKFURT
Fairchild Aerospace has secured a major breakthrough in its bid to develop the 728JET - Lufthansa's supervisory board has decided to approve the purchase of up to 120 of the regional airliners by its CityLine commuter subsidiary.
The German flag carrier has signed a firm order for 60 of the 70-seaters for delivery between 2002 and 2006 and has placed a similar number of options. The manufacturer values the firm component of the deal at $1.6 billion, based on aircraft list prices.
Meanwhile, Fairchild chief executive and majority owner Carl Albert has ruled out co-operation with ATR partners Aerospatiale and Alenia. "We gave it very serious analysis but never got close to an agreement," he says.
ATR says it is still talking to all the players in the regional market and is continuing its own Airjet family studies.
Lufthansa signalled its interest in Fairchild's new family of regional jets nearly a year ago but had considered placing more orders for Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet Series 700s instead.
CityLine managing director Karl-Heinz Köpfle says the airline has also tentatively looked at Embraer's proposed RJ-170 family. But he adds: "That project is at a rather early stage and we cannot keep delaying our decision when we definitely need the capacity."
Köpfle says the 728JETs will be used to boost capacity, particularly at the airline's Munich hub, and will replace its existing types. CityLine is the launch customer for the 728JET, although Fairchild says it has two orders for the corporate version of the type - the Envoy 7.
The US-German company says total development cost of the 728JET family, including the 928JET stretch model and 528JET shrink, will be $1.2 billion, excluding production investments made by the project's main suppliers.
The German Government and the state of Bavaria, which contains Fairchild's Oberpfaffenhofen factory, have agreed to guarantee commercial loans worth $430 million. Fairchild is to launch a $300 million bond offering next month.
A further 2,000 jobs will be created at Oberpfaffenhofen, where the 728JET family will be assembled, and 1,000 will be added at Fairchild's sales, marketing and support headquarters in San Antonio, USA.
The first flight of the 728JET is scheduled for March 2001, with entry into service (EIS)in May 2002. Current planning calls for the 95/105-seat 928JET to be developed next, with an entry-into-service date of November 2003, followed by the 55-seat 528JETa year later.
CASA of Spain will build the wings and empennage for the family, which will be powered by the General Electric CF34-8D. Fuselages will be built at Oberpfaffenhofen.
The initial production rate will be a "minimum" of 100 aircraft a year, says Albert.
Source: Flight International
