On February 14, Air Nostrum retired two 13-year-old Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (ex Bombardier) CRJ 1000s from its fleet. The Spanish airline is one of only two operators in the world of this Canadian model.
Iberia’s regional division moved the EC-LJR and EC-LJS-registered aircraft to St. Athan (DGX), UK, where several retired Boeing 747s from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic also rest. According to spotter Fabrizio Spicuglia, both aircraft were the first delivered to the Spanish airline in December 2010.
The future of the CRJ-1000 is unknown at the moment, but this is the first retirement of the Air Nostrum model. The airline currently operates 25 aircraft, with three more operating for Hibernian Airlines, the ACMI division of the Spanish group, the latest delivered in August 2018.
These are, along with CityJet, which operates four aircraft, the only two airlines to keep the longer version of the successful Bombardier-built CRJ series in operation.
Today, Air Nostrum flew the EC-LJR and EC-LJS to St. Athan(DGX) for Retirement💔
A curious thing about these planes is that they were the first CRJX delivered to an Airline👀
EC-LJR – MSN 19002
EC-LJS – MSN 19003Both were delivered in December 2010 and are 13 years old🔚 pic.twitter.com/GLulmy5iCJ
— Fabrizio Spicuglia (@fsspotter) February 14, 2024
Brief history of the CRJ 1000
Bombardier began development of the CRJ 1000 on February 19, 2007, previously called the CRJ 900X. Its goal was to compete with the Embraer 190/195, launched in 2004, and take a share of the 100-seat aircraft market. The Canadian manufacturer claimed it had better performance than its rival and a higher cost-benefit ratio.
The CRJ 1000 completed its first production flight on July 28, 2009 in Montreal/Mirabel, and was scheduled to enter service in the first quarter of 2010. However, one month after the first flight, a rudder control failure forced the flight to be suspended. Test program. The program did not resume until February 2010 and deliveries were projected to begin in January 2011. Brit Air and Air Nostrum were the launch customers for the CRJ1000.
The aircraft, configured in a single 100-passenger class, lacked significant cargo holds and was primarily aimed at capturing corporate passenger markets or more lucrative routes, sacrificing cost-per-seat-mile (ASM) benefits at higher prices.
See also: The end of the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ): an aircraft with an executive lineage.
According to Bombardier, in 2015, the CRJ series accounted for more than 20% of all aircraft departures in the United States. However, as the CRJ 1000 was a heavy aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) 9% higher than its smaller CRJ 900 sibling, it did not enter the U.S. market.
This is precisely because the CRJ 900 is the largest aircraft that fits within the parameters set by the «scope clause» in regional aviation, which restricts the type of aircraft that regional airlines of legacy carriers can use in terms of number of passengers and weight.
See also: HOP! to stop operating its CRJ 1000s in 2022
Losing a market such as the United States to Embraer, only 65 aircraft were produced for customers such as HOP! (formerly Brit Air), Air Nostrum, Arik Air and Garuda Indonesia. According to the Cirium platform, there are currently 29 aircraft in operation for Air Nostrum, Hibernian Airlines and City Jet.
