SAAB AIRCRAFT HAS beaten Daimler-Benz Aerospace to a major order from US regional Mesaba Airlines. The Northwest Airlink carrier is acquiring up to 72 34-seat Saab 340s, in preference to the Dornier 328, to replace its existing fleet of 26 Fairchild Metro IIIs and 25 de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100s.
John Fredericksen, Mesaba's operations chief, says: "The early availability of used Saab 340As gave Saab a tremendous edge."
The deal, believed to be worth around $400 million, includes a firm order for 50 and options for an additional 22 aircraft. The firm commitment consists of 30 new Saab 340BPluses, and 20 pre-owned Saab 340As being returned to Saab by American Eagle as part of a 1995 order by the carrier to acquire 25 new aircraft.
The new aircraft brings the 340 order book to 433 aircraft, of which more than 380 have been delivered. The first delivery of the Mesaba order will be in May and subsequent aircraft will be added at a rate of about two a month, for completion by September 1998.
Source: Flight International
