On April 23, Bombardier Aerospace announced that Horizon Air of Seattle, Washington, has placed a firm order for 15 Bombardier Q400 airliners and has taken options on an additional 20 Q400 aircraft. With this order, Horizon Air continues to be the largest North American operator of the Q400 aircraft. The airline serves 49 cities in the Western U.S. and Western Canada.

Based on the list price for the Q400 aircraft, the value of the contract for the 15 firm-ordered aircraft is approximately US$393 million.

"Horizon Air has been a valued customer of Bombardier for over 20 years and they were the North American launch customer for the Q400 airliner," said Steven Ridolfi, President, Bombardier Regional Aircraft. "We are grateful for Horizon Air's continuing confidence in Bombardier, demonstrated by the airline's utilization of both our CRJ Series regional jets and Q-Series turboprop aircraft to meet its fleet requirements."

"Our first-hand experience with the Q400 over more than six years has given us the confidence to invest further in the model," said Jeff Pinneo, President and Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Air. "We have a keen understanding of the aircraft's many advantages - its superior economics, how well it's accepted by customers, and its exceptional fit to our unique market requirements."

Including the order stated above, Horizon Air has over the years ordered a total of 115 Bombardier aircraft, comprised of 21 Dash 8/Q100, 28 Q200 and 46 Q400 turboprop airliners, and 20 Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets. The airline also acquired two additional previously owned Q400 aircraft from Hainan Airlines.

Making full use of the Q400 aircraft's technical capabilities, Horizon Air has obtained the first approval for Head-up Guidance System operations allowing approaches in Category III weather conditions. The airline is also the first Q400 operator to obtain approval for Required Navigation Performance (RNP) 0.3 operations with curved approaches using the FAA's "Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorization Required" (SAAAR) rules.

Bombardier has now recorded orders for a total of 230 Q400 aircraft. As of January 31, 2007, 143 of these aircraft had been delivered to operators in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East and North America.