Government Of Spain Places Order For One Bombardier 415 Amphibious Aircraft

Bombardier Aerospace announced that the Government of Spain has placed a firm order for one Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft. The contract is valued at approximately 30.6 million $US and includes initial spare parts provisioning, training and technical support.

With this firm order, the government of Spain is increasing its fleet to 20 Bombardier amphibious aircraft. It is already operating 14 CL-215T and 5 CL-215 aircraft. The new aircraft is scheduled for immediate delivery and is expected to enter service for the current fire season.

“This sale to the Spanish government, as part of the deployment of the new “Unidad Militar Emergencias”, serves to demonstrate once again that customers continue to choose Bombardier amphibious aircraft over other solutions to form the backbone of their aerial firefighting capabilities. After having been the launch customer in Europe for the CL-215T  17 years ago, Spain is entering a new era with the introduction of its first Bombardier 415 aircraft to its fleet as early as August 2006. Bombardier is committed to its continuous support of the Spanish operations,” said Michel Bourgeois, President, Bombardier Amphibious Aircraft.

At the time of contract approval, the Council of Ministers noted that: “ the Bombardier 415 aircraft is the new version of the CL-215T aircraft which is currently used by the 43rd Unit of the Air Force. The CL-215T’s good performance has been demonstrated since it first entered service in the seventies. Consequently, this type of aircraft is considered as the best possible option for the Unit.”

Bombardier amphibious aircraft are Spain’s primary aviation tool for combating forest fires and other missions within its emergency relief mandate. The aircraft’s unique operational capabilities and exceptional performance are invaluable additions to Spain’s hardworking firefighters on the ground. 

Since the first delivery in 1994, Bombardier Aerospace has delivered 63 Bombardier 415 aircraft to firefighting agencies in Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Ontario and Québec. In the Mediterranean region, France, Croatia, Italy and Greece currently operate 41 Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft. In addition to the Spanish CL-215 and CL-215T, Greece has 13 CL-215 piston aircraft in service.

The Bombardier 415 aircraft has a maximum cruise speed of 359 km/h (224 mph), under certain conditions, and in an average mission of 11 kilometres (six nautical miles) distance from water to fire, it can complete nine drops within an hour, delivering 55,233 litres (14,589 U.S. gallons) of fire suppressant.

The aircraft is also being offered in a new multi-purpose version (Bombardier 415 MP) for search and rescue, maritime patrol and environmental protection. In addition, Bombardier offers product enhancement kits such as Autopilot, Weather radar and Flight Data Recorder/Cockpit Voice Recorder (FDR/CVR) available for all Bombardier 415 aircraft.