In a ceremony yesterday that briefly took on the appearance of a celebratory conga line at the Bombardier stand (Booth No. 7500), three customers signed contracts for a total of four aircraft valued at approximately $101.4 million.

Bahrain Executive Air Services (Bexair) placed a firm order for a Challenger 605, valued at $27.4 million (typically equipped) to be based in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The company operates one Challenger 601-3R and three Challenger 604s. “The Middle Eastern climate and operating conditions test all aircraft,” said Bexair president and CEO Mansour Al-Tassan. “Our Challenger aircraft fleet has consistently surpassed our expectations and earned our confidence in this challenging environment.”

Bombardier and TAG Aero announced the sale of an ultra-long-range Global Express XRS, valued at about $49 million, to Echo Aircraft of Lebanon. The XRS will replace Echo’s current Global 5000 and will be managed by Executive Aircraft Services of Beirut. It is the fifth new Bombardier business jet purchased by Echo and its associated companies in the past 10 years. With its long-range capacity, the XRS will provide a nonstop link between Beirut and such distant cities as Vancouver, British Columbia, and Jakarta, Indonesia. “The Middle East continues to be one of our most important growth markets, with demand increasing at rapid rates,” said Bombardier v-p of international sales Bob Horner.

Portuguese charter and aircraft services company Omni Aviação signed yesterday for two Bombardier aircraft–a super-midsize Challenger 300 and a Learjet 40XR. The transaction is valued at about $29 million. Both airplanes will be operated by Omni’s Paris-based subsidiary Aero Services and will be based at Le Bourget Airport. Upon entry into service, both new airplanes will also join SkyJet International’s growing European network.