Bombardier Terminates Jet Republic Purchase Deal

Bombardier, the world’s 3rd-largest commercial-jet maker, terminated an order from European private-plane service Jet Republic for 110 Learjet 60 XR aircraft $1.5B value. The Jet Republic accord consisted of 25 firm orders & 85 condition orders, Bombardier said. Jet Republic said it suspended operations in Portugal after the recession made it hard for customers to obtain financing. The 25-plane order, valued at $340M, will be removed from Bombardier’s backlog, it said. It announced the agreement in June 08 & deliveries were scheduled to start in 09. Bombardier said it remains committed to the Learjet 60 XR program & production of the aircraft in Wichita continues as planned. The 85 conditional orders weren’t included in Bombardier’s backlog & will update its order book when it reports 2nd-Q results Sept. 2. The Learjet 60 XR seats as many as 8 passengers. Bombardier fell 20¢, or 4.8%, to C$3.94 in Toronto trading. The shares declined 7% this year. Jet Republic has headquarters in Porto Salvo, Portugal, according to its Web site. It said in Sept it planned to expand in the summer of 2009 with the Bombardier jets. Bombardier said it terminated an order agreement from Italian airline MyAir.com for 15 CRJ1000 aircraft because of what it called the carrier’s “uncertain situation.”