At an announcement in Calgary today, WestJet Airlines has signed a conditional order for 20 DHC-8Q-400 NextGen turboprop aircraft following a letter of intent WestJet announced on May 1, 2012 with Bombardier. The agreement also has options on an additional 25 DHC-8Q-Q400 NextGen aircraft.
If all options are taken, the total value of this order to Bombardier could exceed 1.5 billion US dollars.
WestJet currently plans to begin regional turboprop service in the second half of 2013. The airline is Canada’s second largest carrier and operates both scheduled and chartered flights throughout North America and the Caribbean.
Bombardier holds firm orders for 428 DHC-8Q-400 and DHC-8Q-400 NextGen aircraft which are built at the company’s plant in Downsview, Ontario. DHC-8Q-400 aircraft are in service with approximately 40 operators in 30 countries, on six continents. In total, the fleet has carried more than 177 million passengers and have logged more than 3.2 million flight hours and over 3.5 million take-offs and landings.
