Qantas Exercises Options to Order 7 Q400 Aircraft

Qantas and Bombardier Aerospace have finalised a contract for the purchase of seven new Q400 NextGen aircraft to be delivered by Bombardier from 2011 for operation by Qantas' regional airline subsidiary QantasLink. The transaction is an exercise of Qantas options.

Based on the list price for the Q400 NextGen aircraft, the contract is valued at approximately $250 million.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Alan Joyce, said the Q400 aircraft had become the flagship of QantasLink's regional fleet.

"Qantas has invested over $600 million in 21 Bombardier Q400 aircraft over the last four years," he said. "The aircraft really suits QantasLink's operations and is extremely popular with the airline's customers ... We have therefore made the decision to acquire another seven aircraft for delivery from the first half of 2011. These new next-generation Q400 aircraft will be equipped with upgraded cabin interiors and larger overhead compartments."

This investment will allow QantasLink to increase capacity on existing routes and investigate further network growth.

QantasLink operates over 2000 flights each week to 54 destinations across Australia and has recently begun international Q400 aircraft services between Cairns and Papua New Guinea. It has a fleet of 53 aircraft – 21 Q400, 16 Q300 and 5 Dash 8-200 turboprops, and 11 Boeing 717 jets.

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