Fleet renewals fatten OEMs’ backlogs
An extended period of order taking for the world’s makers of regional airliners showed little sign of relenting last month, as Canada’s Bombardier grabbed

An extended period of order taking for the world’s makers of regional airliners showed little sign of relenting last month, as Canada’s Bombardier grabbed at least two more major orders for CRJ regional jets while Brazil’s Embraer and the Franco-Italian ATR partnership counted the proceeds from a busy Paris Air Show.

An order for seven CRJ900s last month from Uruguay’s Pluna Airlines raised Bombardier’s CRJ order count for the year to 111. Also holding orders for 52 Q400s, five Q300s and four Q200s, Bombardier saw its turboprop sales performance in the first half eclipsed only by that of ATR, itself in the midst of the best three-year period in its history. This year’s first half yielded ATR firm orders for 63 airplanes, already more than it sold all of last year and a mark surpassed only by a record total of 90 in 2005.