On March 15, Bombardier Aerospace announced that Pinnacle Airlines Corp. of Memphis, Tenn. has signed a contract to acquire 15 Bombardier Q400 74-seat turboprop airliners. The transaction also includes conditional orders for another 10 Q400 aircraft and options on an additional 20.

The value of the 15 firm ordered aircraft, based on the list price of the Q400 aircraft, is approximately US$381 million. The value could rise to US$1.2 billion if all conditional orders and options are exercised.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. will assign the 15 aircraft to its wholly owned subsidiary Colgan Air, Inc. which will operate the aircraft under the Continental Connection banner primarily from the Continental Airlines hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey.

The transaction announced on March 15 increases firm orders for the Q400 aircraft to 215. More than 140 Q400 aircraft have been delivered to 18 operators in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Four additional customers - Frontier Airlines of Denver, USA, Luxair of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Sky Work Airlines of Switzerland, and Tassili Airlines in Algeria - have Q400 aircraft on order.