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Aviation News Item: 00062
13th Nov 2009
Middle East operators among first to fly supersonically
Source: evaint.com
Aerion Vice Chairman Brian Barents is taking the occasion of the Dubai Air Show to reiterate the company's commitment to forging a partnership with one or more manufacturing partners and to being first to market with a supersonic business jet.
"We are quite encouraged by our discussions with potential partners. The state of the economy has slowed their decision making progress but it has not lessened interest in this programme," he said. "We are also encouraged by continuing strong customer interest in the airplane, particularly in the Middle East."
Aerion launched its formal marketing efforts at the 2007 Dubai Air Show where it began accepting Letters of Intent (LoI) to purchase the $80 million Aerion supersonic business jet, each backed by a $250,000 refundable deposit.
Aerion today has approximately 50 LoIs representing a backlog of $4 billion. Nearly a quarter of orders are from customers in the Middle East, India and Pakistan. The remainder is distributed between Europe and the Americas.
Barents noted that the Aerion order book has held steady in spite of the global recession, an indicator of strong customer commitment to the programme. "We have barely begun to tap global demand for this aircraft," he said. "The Middle East, India, Russia, China, other Asian countries and Australia will all be strong markets for the aircraft. We are entering a new era of maturing global trade relationships and rapid transportation between regions will be essential."
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