Greece's newly privatised Olympic Airlines has ordered eight Bombardier Q400 regional turboprops and placed options on a further eight of the type. Olympic has recently been acquired by Marfin Investment Group and the company has embarked on a fleet renewal programme.

As part of the Olympic takeover, Marfin also acquired the Pantheon Airways company, which will operate the Q400s for Olympic. Five of the firmly ordered Q400s will be NextGen versions of the aircraft, as will the eight options. Pantheon Airways chief Antonis Simigdalas says the aircraft will be an "important part" of the renewal programme for Olympic.

Bombardier, which signed the agreement at the Paris air show, agreed the deal with Marfin subsidiary MIG Aviation 3. The Canadian airframer values the firm order at $224 million at list prices, adding that this could reach $468 million if all options are exercised.

Source: Flight Daily News