Business Editors

    MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2001--Fairchild Dornier demonstrated the operational and environmental characteristics of the 328JET during the recent Australian International Airshow 2001 with a flight to Melbourne's regional Moorabbin Airport.
    The flight was conducted to validate the 328JET's capability to operate from the airport's 1,335-meter runway and to gauge the jet's environmental impact on the community. With a full load of 32 passengers, the 328JET successfully landed and took off with ease from the airport's north-south runway with little notice from the community, according to airport officials.
    "There are a number of airports in Australia like Melbourne's Moorabbin and Sydney's Bankstown that are perfect for airline service with regional jets," said Don Weiner, regional vice president for Fairchild Dornier.
    "The business traveler finds such service to be more desirable from a cost and convenience standpoint, and that is a leading factor in the growth of the regional airline market around the world."
    Weiner said a number of groups are evaluating the 328JET for operations throughout Australia using airports other than major hubs. The low external noise of the jet makes it relatively unobtrusive to surrounding communities, he said, and many regional airports are closer to commerce and residential centers for added passenger convenience.
    Moorabbin, for example, is close to the Dandenong commercial/industrial district of Melbourne and close to the large residential and tourist areas of the Mornington Penninsula.
    Using Moorabbin for scheduled service to Bankstown, for instance, would be more convenient for business and leisure travelers on the southeast side of the city than having to go to Melbourne's international airport on the north side of the city, Weiner said.
    Such a system has the secondary benefit of relieving congestion at larger hub airports by redistributing flights to the regional airports. At the same time, the new-generation regional jets are much faster than turboprop regional aircraft in wide use, which helps alleviate congestion in the air traffic control system.
    For instance, the 328JET is a full 100 knots faster than its predecessor 328 turboprop and that gives it the capability to operate in the same airspace as larger jets with little impact to the overall air traffic system.
    Major airlines could also use the 328JET in a feeder role bringing travelers from regional airports to the hubs - Moorabbin to Sydney-Mascot Airport, for instance - for connections abroad or to domestic destinations where load factors demand larger aircraft.
    The 328JET is the world's only 32-seat regional jet and is in service in the U.S., Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China, and the Pacific Rim. In addition to its operations with regional airlines, the 328JET also operates as a corporate shuttle with several operators.
    When outfitted with Fairchild Dornier's unique convertible interior, corporate operators can operate the jet during the week as a shuttle with 32 seats, and then as a VIP transport with 16 first-class seats for special operations.
    In Australia, several airlines also are evaluating the Fairchild Dornier 728JET for possible acquisition. The 728JET is the first in a new family of airliners for the under-110 seat market. The 728JET seats 70 to 85 passengers and is set to enter service in 2003. It is to be joined in 2005 by the larger 928JET for 90-to 110-passenger operations.
    Fairchild Dornier holds orders and options for 276 728JETs, including the launch order from Lufthansa CityLine, and additional orders from General Electric Capital Aviation Services, one of the largest aircraft leasing companies in the world, SolAir of Italy, and Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing. Bavaria also holds orders and options for six 928JETs now in preliminary design.
    Weiner said company forecasts show a requirement in Australia for aircraft under 110 seats to be in excess of 300 units over the next 20 years, part of a requirement for more than 700 aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region during the same period. Worldwide, forecasts show a requirement for some 9,000 aircraft with a potential value of more than $200 billion (US).
    Fairchild Dornier is a leading manufacturer of jet aircraft for the airline, corporate and government markets and provides a wide range of sales, support, production and engineering services for the aviation industry.
    Fairchild Dornier is a privately held corporation, with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Allianz Capital Partners as majority owners. In addition to facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, and San Antonio, Texas, Fairchild Dornier has offices near Washington, D.C. and in other locations worldwide.

CONTACT:

              Fairchild Dornier
              Robert Stangarone, Phone: (49) 8153 30 4950 (Germany) 
              Cell: (49) 170 354 3076 
              Robert.Stangarone@faidor.com
                    or
              Doug Oliver, Cell: (49) 171 517 8006
              Doug.Oliver@faidor.com

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