Minister Paradis Congratulates Canadian Aerospace Firms on a Successful International Paris Air Show

PARIS, FRANCE--(Marketwire - June 21, 2011) - The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry, today congratulated the Canadian aerospace industry for its strong showing at the 2011 International Paris Air Show. At this year's event, Canadian companies have already announced more than $2.2 billion in new and projected business, which is a testament to Canada's world-class talent and global reach.

"As Head of Delegation for Canada, I have been thoroughly impressed with our country's presence here in Paris," said Minister Paradis. "Clearly, Canadian companies have built a solid reputation for world-class, innovative products."

"Our government has been given a strong mandate to implement the next phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan. We have provided support for successful research and development, and we have encouraged private sector investment in the important and growing aerospace sector," said Minister Paradis. "We take pride in Canada's aerospace sector and expect that it will remain a global technology leader and a major source of high-quality jobs."

While at the Paris Air Show, the Minister promoted Canada as a top aerospace country and highlighted the extensive technological capabilities of Canadian aerospace firms, particularly in major aircraft programs such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Minister Paradis took the opportunity to meet with F-35 prime contractors to discuss Canada's role in the development of the aircraft and also met with a number of Canadian suppliers that are benefitting from F-35 work.

"Our suppliers and their impressive technologies have clearly made an impression in the global market," said Minister Paradis. "With approximately US$350 million in secured contracts for work on the F-35 aircraft, Canadian technologies are being embedded in the aircraft's fleet of over 3,100 planes for partner countries—well beyond the 65 planes that the government is purchasing."

Highlights from the show include the following:

• Bombardier Aerospace announced the sale of 10 additional aircraft in its CSeries family at a value of up to US$1.01 billion, including options. While this is the third contract the company announced this month, the purchaser will be the first to receive and operate the CSeries aircraft. The company has also signed a letter of intent with Korean Air, South Korea's flagship airline, for it to acquire 10 Bombardier CS300 aircraft with an additional 10 options and 10 purchase rights on CS300 airliners.

• VistaJet of Switzerland has placed a firm order for 10 Bombardier Global 8000 jets–an order valued at approximately US$650 million.

• AVWest of Australia has placed orders totaling approximately US$400 million with Bombardier for four Global 7000 and two Global 8000 ultra long-range jets, two of which were placed earlier this year.

• Thanks to the Government of Canada's Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy, Héroux-Devtek secured a contract from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to manufacture the landing gear for the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. The seven-year contract is valued at up to $70 million and will bring additional high-quality work to the Montréal aerospace cluster.

• Montréal-based CAE announced the sale of six CAE 7000 Series Level D full-flight simulators (FFS) to airline customers in Asia, Europe and North America. The contracts are worth a total of approximately $100 million.

• National Research Council Canada and the French agency responsible for supporting innovative and growing companies, OSEO, have renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that reaffirms collaborative support to small and medium-sized enterprises. The original MOU was signed when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Prime Minister François Fillon met in July 2008.

Canada's aerospace industry is a key contributor to the economy and, according to the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, it generates annual revenues of $22 billion and employs nearly 80,000 Canadians in high-paying jobs at more than 400 firms. It also features important industrial clusters composed of leading multinational companies and numerous small and medium-sized enterprises. Domestic firms are considered among global leaders in the development and design of regional aircraft, flight simulators, small gas turbine engines, helicopters, landing gear systems and environmental control systems.

The 2011 International Paris Air Show, held from June 20 to 26 at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France, is considered the world's leading aviation and space event.