(Rewrites with comment from Bombardier executive, industry
forecast)
By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO said
on Tuesday it has agreed to sell 20 of its Challenger 350
business jets to Flexjet LLC in a deal valued at about $544
million based on list prices of the aircraft.
Flexjet, owned by Directional Aviation Capital, is one of
the world's largest private jet travel firms, largely through
its fractional ownership programs, where customers buy a 'share'
in a plane rather than purchasing one outright.
The provisional order, in the form of a memorandum of
understanding, comes as a boost for Bombardier, which in recent
months has seen its order book affected by struggles with its
CSeries line of passenger jets, as well as delays with its new
business jets.
In May, Bombardier scaled back production of its larger
Global 5000 and 6000 business jets because of weaker demand from
markets like China and Russia.
David Coleal, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft,
said weaker demand from emerging markets also impacted sales of
the super-mid sized Challenger, but there was no change in
production rate.
"Those economies affect both products," Coleal said. "This
year we were over-producing the Global and we had the Challenger
rates right."
On Sunday, Honeywell International Inc (N:HON). HON.N published a
forecast that said sales of business jets are expected to slow
next year as weakening economies and simmering political
tensions delay corporate purchases. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3432E