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The Globe and Mail

Bombardier Aerospace has identified China Express Airlines as the customer in a deal announced last October involving CRJ900 NextGen aircraft.

The conditional order for six aircraft and options on an additional five to build upon China Express' existing fleet of 50-seat CRJ200 planes.

As announced earlier by Bombardier Inc., the contract for the first six aircraft is worth about $264-million (U.S.) and the full 11-plane order is valued at $491-million.

China Express, which is China's first private regional airline, is based in Guiyang, Guizhou, and currently provides regional passenger services with its fleet of five Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft.

More than 80 Bombardier-produced aircraft, including CRJ Series and Q-Series commercial aircraft, as well as Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets, are currently operating in China.

The deal was announced Friday at the Canada China Business Forum held in Beijing, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Bombardier president and CEO Pierre Beaudoin.

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