NI firm to share plane order

Shorts is a division of Bombadier Aerospace

Northern Ireland's aero-engineering company Shorts is to benefit from a billion pound deal won by its parent company, Bombardier.

It has won an order to sell 64 of its regional jet aircraft to the American airline SkyWest.

The fuselage and other parts of the CRJ200 will be built in Belfast.

The order will make the jobs of the 1,500 workers who currently build the parts, more secure.

New plane order to safeguard jobs

Deliveries of the jets to the Americans will begin in March next year and continue until December 2004.

The deal with Utah-based Skywest may double as it has also taken another option to buy a further 64 of the planes.

Bombardier spokeman in Belfast Alec McRitchie welcomed the order for what he said had become the most successful commuter jet in history.

He said Shorts would share in a large slice of the money from the contract: "We make well over 50% of the aircraft and this year we're making 150 regional jet fuselages, so it is a considerable amount of money."

SkyWest president Jerry Atkin said: "The aircraft covered in today's announcement will provide SkyWest with the ability to expand our planned United Express operations.

"With the CRJ regional jet as the core of our fleet, we are able to realise significant savings in flight and maintenance training, spare parts provisioning and economy of operation."

Shorts is a division of Canadian-owned Bombardier Aerospace which took over the company when it was privatised 10 years ago.

It remains Northern Ireland's largest manufacturing employer, with 5,763 workers involved in the design and production of aircraft structures and engine covers.