Lufthansa Technik (booth 2253) and Bombardier (3197) this afternoon signed an agreement under which the Hamburg-based engineering giant will complete luxury business jet versions of Bombardier’s CRJ200 regional airliner.
The link between Bombardier and the German company was first revealed at the EBACE show in Geneva this year, when the partners said that Lufthansa Technik would work on Corporate Shuttle versions of the CRJ200. Today’s announcement indicates a change of plan, with Lufthansa Technik focusing its VIP completion skills on a variant now designated Challenger 850 Business Jet and leaving the simpler Corporate Shuttle work to others.
“The Challenger 850 Business Jet is a real corporate aircraft project, demanding the capabilities and capacities of our Hamburg completion center,” explains Lufthansa Technik senior vice-president Bernhard Conrad. “Whereas the Corporate Shuttles will come in three variants featuring fairly straightforward mixes of standard economy and business-class seating, the Business Jets will have a maximum of 15 club and divan seats in a VIP-type interior.”
Another big difference is the availability of an extended-range 850ER Business Jet version, with an aft-cabin auxiliary tank boosting range by 1,000nm (1,850km) to 3,100nm. Aircraft earmarked for completion as 850ERs will arrive from the Bombardier line with the necessary extra fuel piping already installed, ready for Lufthansa Technik to put in the tank and its associated hoses and support brackets.
Work on the first Business Jet is already under way in Hamburg, and two more green airframes are due into the completion center before the end of the year. “Along with Bombardier, we are talking to a number of customers about things such interior styling and cabin systems for communications and entertainment,” says Conrad. “Bombardier has been very successful so far in finding customers.”
Source: Flight Daily News
