Press Release

Issued by .

November 17, 2008

Egyptian actor and martial arts professional Yousef Mansour was at MEBA today (17 November) to sign a contract for a Project Phoenix CRJ.  His company – Action Film International, an international film production and distribution company headquartered in Cairo, has agreed to take a 12-seat VIP configured Phoenix CRJ LR for delivery in September 2009.   The aircraft will be based in Cairo and will be used to fly Yousef and his film crews on location.  He is also sharing the aircraft with several Middle East-business colleagues who will use it for private charters around the Middle East.  The aircraft will be managed by ExecuJet Middle East, operating on one of its European AOCs.

Lights, camera - Action

The Phoenix CRJ is also set for a starring role in Action Film International's new film Sooner or Later , which Yousef has written and will direct.  Filming will commence in Cairo; around the Red Sea and in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, from next March.  The aircraft, especially the interior, will feature a lot.  "What a great showcase for a very special executive jet," said Mansour, who is meeting with Project Phoenix designers in Dubai this week to determine the look and colours.  "I am really looking forward to this aircraft's arrival.  It is like the beginning of a play - you have the script, you rehearse and you wait expectantly for the curtain to go up." 

Action Film International has produced 10 major films since 1992 and currently has four in the pre-production phase, plus a major TV series called Triple 1, a co-production with Sylvester Stallone. (Yousef Mansour made his motion picture debut 19 years ago, appearing in the first Arabic film to exhibit the martial arts.) 

Yourself has always been interested in aviation and at one time owned a Cessna 501. "My pilot was always raving about the Swearingen SJ30 and kept encouraging me to take a look at this small, but long range business jet.  I duly followed its progress since 1996.  Visiting EBACE Show this year in Geneva I stumbled on it again in the static, but was also drawn to the Action Aviation display (Project Phoenix's exclusive ME distributor) and a familiar looking logo.   We talked and interest in the bigger CRJ really evolved from there, he said.   He added: "This is the aircraft that was right for our needs and we are so delighted to be the first in the Middle East with this aircraft.  We will be the trend setter and we will have the extended range version, enabling a range of to 3,200 nm miles.  (Cairo to Dubai is a two hour journey.)    After that chance meeting in Geneva, within a week Yousef was meeting with Mike Cappuccitti, Project Phoenix's President, and they started to explore all the ramifications of owning the aircraft.  "Both Phoenix and Action Aviation have been extremely responsive, sharing engineering and technical knowledge and providing comprehensive operating costs.  For us, it all added up," he concluded.

"We are delighted to secure this contract today with Action Film International – our first customer in the Middle East and we are especially delighted by the great endorsement from Yousef Mansour,  who will be a prolific regular flyer on the aircraft," said Mike Cappuccitti.

Project Phoenix, with its Montreal, Canada-based partner Aerospace Concepts Ltd (ACL) is the pioneer in CRJ-200 retrofits. Maintenance work will be carried out exclusively by reputable authorised Bombardier Service Centers.    Primary interiors provider is Flying Colors of Peterborough, Ontario.  

Project Phoenix announced the launch of the Phoenix CRJ VIP conversion programme at the Dubai Air Show in November last year.  It addresess two significant challenges facing the business aviation sector today - rapidly escalating prices and increasingly long lead times.   The program has been conceived, with the assistance and support of several former senior Bombardier executives who make up Project Phoenix, to offer buyers of large executive aircraft a viable and cost-effective alternative to new business aircraft models in the 2,200 – 3,000 nm range – for which new customers are having to wait for up to five years for a delivery slot.      

The Phoenix CRJ boasts a maximum range, with long-range tanks fitted, in excess of 3,000 nm.   Powered by twin General Electric CF34-3B1 engines rated at ISA+15, the aircraft is capable of normal operations out of hot and high airfields. Initial climb altitude is 37,000 feet with a maximum certified ceiling of 41,000 ft.  Direct and fixed operating costs are predicted to be very similar to other executive jets in this class, whilst the total hourly costs will be much lower, owing to the significantly lower capital cost.