Industry CIB Leasing orders five 90-seat Q400

CIB Leasing previously had 10 Bombardier CRJ Series aircraft on order. Now, it has converted this agreement to order five 90-Seat Q400 turboprop aircraft, while still expecting to take delivery of five CRJ900 regional jets.

Based on current list prices, this converted purchase agreement is valued at approximately US$ 420 million.

With the new type of aircraft, the leasing company hopes to win new customers in the 90-Seat aircraft category. Especially regional airlines are expected to be keen on flying the Q400 that features low-operation costs per seats, especially on domestic and short-haul routes. CIB Leasing is based in Asia.

Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft commented: “As we work alongside CIB Leasing to explore market opportunities for regional fleet growth and network expansion in Asia, we are pleased to see that more 90-Seat Q400 turboprop will be available in the region."

At the beginning of August 2018, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer has announced that the Q400 aircraft has received the certification for a 90-seat configuration. With the added capacity, airlines will experience lower costs per seats, which leads to bettered operational costs and profitability.

“With 15 percent lower cost per seat than the 78-seat version, our 90-seat turboprop aircraft has unique capabilities and unbeatable productivity, and we are confident that our leasing partner and potential operators will extract tremendous value from it,” Cromer added.

The manufacturer seeks to further commit to the evolution of the Q400 program as it has recently announced that it plans to increase the Q400´s payload capacity by 2,000lb. Bombardier will also allow airlines to increase the intervals between A- and C-Checks.

CIB Leasing is a commercial bank, headquartered in Fuzhou, China. It was founded in August 1988.