Avantair Orders 20 Phenom 100 Jets

[On Your Six]

Looks like an interesting complement to the Avanti fleet. Again, sticking to the lower-cost segment of the fractional market. The aircraft sounds like a good performer below. Will enter the fleet in 2009.



Avantair Places Order for 20 Phenom 100 Jets
Tuesday October 17, 11:15 am ET Embraer's Phenom 100 jet will allow Avantair to expand their product offering
ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avantair, a leading provider of fractional aircraft shares, announced today at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting and Convention that it has placed an order for 20 Phenom 100 executive jets from Embraer. Avantair's firm contract has an order value of $57 million at list price in January 2005 economic conditions. The Phenom 100 is expected to enter service in mid-2008 and Avantair is scheduled to take delivery of its first aircraft in June 2009.

"The Phenom 100 is a perfect addition to our fleet," stated Matt Doyle, Avantair Vice President of Sales. "It gives us an advantage in the marketplace by allowing us to offer our existing and potential owners the best in the Very Light Jets category in both fuel efficiency and cabin comfort."
The addition of Embraer's Phenom 100 to Avantair's current fleet will give them the opportunity to offer a wider variety of aircraft and fractional share programs options. Avantair also offers custom programs and travel solutions that provide the highest quality of customer service.
"As one the largest fractional ownership companies in the world, Avantair has placed tremendous faith and trust in Embraer's products," said Luis Carlos Affonso, Embraer Executive Vice-President, Executive Jets. "We are immensely grateful to Avantair and we are confident that the Phenom 100 will offer the finest in performance, reliability, efficiency and premium comfort that has become synonymous with the Avantair name."
Embraer's Phenom 100 is the most suitable choice for ownership management programs and air taxi operations in that it is designed for high utilization and high availability. It is designed for at least 35,000 cycles of operation. Although business jets typically operate around 500 hours per year, the Phenom jets' design philosophy of high availability and reliability is the same as that of the ERJ 145 and EMBRAER 170/190 family of commercial jets that operate well over 2,000 hours per year.

The Phenom 100 Jet
The Phenom 100 is best-in-class. Premium comfort, outstanding performance and low operating costs are key design drivers for this jet. The aircraft will offer pilots and passengers the comfort and style unseen in its category. The relaxing ambience is enhanced by the size of the generous windows and the most ample cabin in its class. Onboard conveniences include a wardrobe or refreshment center, an aft cabin private lavatory with toiletry cabinet, and satellite communications.
The pilot-friendly cockpit and the docile flying qualities of the new aircraft will enable single-pilot operation. Drawing from Embraer's design and engineering heritage, the Phenom 100 will be built for high utilization and availability. For added safety and reliability the jet will offer a standard brake-by-wire system with anti-skid capability.
Based upon Garmin's all-glass, fully-integrated avionics suite, the Prodigy flight deck offers Phenom Jet operators more advantages than any other avionics suite on today's market. The pilot-friendly cockpit features three interchangeable 12-inch displays - two primary flight displays (PFD) and one multi-function display (MFD). The system integrates all primary flight, navigation, communication, terrain, traffic, weather, engine instrumentation, and crew-alerting system data and presents the composite information in brilliant, sunlight-readable color on three high-definition displays.

The Phenom 100 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW617F engines with 1,615 pounds of thrust each. Its range with four occupants onboard will be 1,160 nautical miles (2,148 km or 1,335 miles) with NBAA IFR reserves, 35 minutes, and 100 nm alternate; or 1,320 nautical miles (2,445 km or 1,519 miles) with NBAA VFR reserves, 45 minutes. The Phenom 100 is capable of flying at 41,000 feet (12,497 m) with a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.70 and is designed for short field takeoff performance. These characteristics will allow customers to fly nonstop from New York to Miami; from Los Angeles to Vancouver or Denver at a lower cost than competitive aircraft.

The Phenom 100 is priced at US$2.85 million in January 2005 economic conditions for FAA certification and is expected to enter service in mid-2008.
On October 2, 2006, Avantair announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by publicly-traded Ardent Acquisition Corp. (OTCBB: AACQ - News, AACQU - News, AACQW - News). Following consummation of the acquisition, Avantair's current management team will remain in place, joined by Barry Gordon, the current Chief Executive Officer of Ardent, who will become non-executive Chairman of the Board. In addition, it is intended that, upon consummation of the acquisition, Ardent will change its name to "Avantair" and will apply for a NASDAQ listing. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter 2007.
About Avantair
Headquartered in Clearwater, FL, Avantair Inc. is the exclusive North American provider of fractional aircraft shares in the Piaggio Avanti P.180 aircraft. Avantair is the fifth largest company in the North American fractional aircraft industry and the only standalone fractional operator. The company currently manages a fleet of 25 planes with another 58 on order. With operations in 5 states and approximately 250 employees, Avantair offers private travel solutions for individuals and companies at a fraction of the cost of whole aircraft ownership. More information about Avantair is available on its website, www.avantair.com.
About Ardent Acquisition Corp.
Ardent Acquisition Corp. was formed on September 14, 2004 to serve as a vehicle to effect a business combination with an operating business. Ardent consummated its initial public offering on March 2, 2005, generating gross proceeds of $41.4 million from the sale of 6.9 million units, including the full exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option. Each unit was comprised of one share of Ardent common stock and two warrants, each with an exercise price of $5.00. As of June 30, 2006, Ardent held approximately $37.9 million in a trust account maintained by an independent trustee, which will be released to Ardent upon the consummation of the business combination. EarlyBirdCapital, the managing underwriter of Ardent's initial public offering, is advising Ardent on the Avantair Acquisition.
Forward Looking Statements

 

[brewerdog]

nice looking plane, but we'll have to wait till 2009 to touch one

 

[Guitar Guy]

Not withstanding the bolded section about single-pilot ops, will Avantair operate their Phenoms with 2 crewmembers? If so, does anyone know what impact that will have range and other performance numbers for the Phenom 100?

 

[On Your Six]

It is somewhat surprising that Avantair would select an aircraft that might compete with their current product - the P180 (especially the Avanti II). Both are low cost and both have similar operating characteristics (that P180 is one fast turboprop...). The P180 has a bigger cabin and it costs a bit more if I am not mistaken. You would think that a step-up product might be more appropriate - maybe a Phenom 300?

As a potential share buyer, why would I select a share in a Phenom 100 over an Avanti II or vice versa if I only require regional travel (say West Coast)? Is it a jet vs. a prop issue from the customer perspective? Any ideas? It should be a fun airplane to fly.

 

[johnsonrod]

Good for them. The Phenom should be a popular airplane and it keeps the share prices low (the market is bigger at the lower end of the scale). I wonder if another Embraer product might follow at some point - the Legacy (at least that was the rumor)...

 

[RNObased]

Orders are one thing, deliveries are another... Time will tell.

 

[C425Driver]

OYS,

Good point. I agree that the Phenom 100 is an inferior plane to the Avanti (Smaller cabin, slower speed, less payload, shorter range) but I can think of a few ideas of why they would order the 100:

1. Lower acquisition cost (Less than 1/2 the price of the Avanti) = lower sales price to our customers = increased market share for that size airframe.

2. Some of the orders may be converted to the Phenom 300 when they start rolling off the production line. Embraers website indicates the 300's will be available about a year after the 100's.

Looking forward to flying them!

C425Driver

 

[h25b]

One look at the financials makes me say believe it when they are on the ramp and you've gotten your type rating. For all anyone knows they could run in to certifications problems and it will goes out the window.

Avantair better get a lot more cash in the piggy bank because they can barely afford what they have...

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20061003005386&newsLang=en

 

[jonjuan]

One look at the financials makes me say believe it when they are on the ramp and you've gotten your type rating. For all anyone knows they could run in to certifications problems and it will goes out the window.

Avantair better get a lot more cash in the piggy bank because they can barely afford what they have...

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20061003005386&newsLang=en

Love the avatar.
Jefe: We have stuffed many pinatas for your birthday celebration!
El Guapo: How many pinatas?
Jefe: Many pinatas, many!
El Guapo: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?
Jefe: Yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?


"The Avantair stockholders would also be entitled to receive future incentives based on achieving the following milestones;

• <LI class=bwlistitemmarginbottom>one million shares of Ardent common stock if cash flow prior to interest, taxes and working capital changes (“Cash EBITDA”) is equal to or greater than $6 million in F2007 (June 30), <LI class=bwlistitemmarginbottom>five million shares of Ardent common stock if Cash EBITDA is equal to or greater than $20 million in F2008, and
• five million shares of Ardent common stock if the closing market price of Ardent’s common stock trades at or above $8.50 for 20 out of 30 trading days at any time prior to February 23, 2009."

Hope the employees see some of the stock.

"The aircraft also boasts the same size cabin cross section as a super-midsize aircraft and has the benefit of the fuel efficiency of a turboprop."

The G-200 and CL-300 are super-mid aircraft. The p-180 has 1/2 the cabin volume. Good looking press release.

 

[Flybet3]

One look at the financials makes me say believe it when they are on the ramp and you've gotten your type rating. For all anyone knows they could run in to certifications problems and it will goes out the window.

Avantair better get a lot more cash in the piggy bank because they can barely afford what they have...

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20061003005386&newsLang=en

Yeah, 2009 is 3 years away. 3 Years is a long time...anything can happen between now and then