NORWEGIAN carrier Wider¿e Flyveselskap has ordered a Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 70-seat turboprop for delivery in the third quarter of 1999.
The aircraft is part of a $40 million deal which includes two used Dash 8-100s and one used -300. The latter will be delivered by the end of the year and will take Wider¿e's Dash 8 fleet to 21 (18 -100s and three -300s). Wider¿e's Dash 8-400 order, which includes options for three additional aircraft, takes firm orders for the high-speed turboprop to 11, including six from Taiwan's Great China Airlines and four from an unnamed customer. Great China holds options on an additional six aircraft.
Bombardier says that Wider¿e selected the -400 in anticipation of increased traffic resulting from the opening of the new Gardemoen Airport, north of Oslo, in 1998, when Oslo's Fornebu Airport closes. The aircraft will be used to feed Gardemoen from points south of Olso, including Sandefjord's Torp Airport, the company says.
France's Air Littoral has purchased a seventh Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet, worth $19.8 million, and placed an order for two more, conditional on financing. Regional Jet orders stand at 150.
Source: Flight International
