Fairchild Dornier has announced the sale of one 328JET to Spanish charter company Audeli Aircompany, to be delivered later this year. The agreement was signed at the 44th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

Audeli Aircompany is based in Madrid and operates a fleet of aircraft for corporate and charter services for major Spanish companies.

The 328JET will be operated in a standard 32-seat configuration and will be delivered in October.

It is the second 328JET ordered by a Spanish operator but will be the first in operation. Madrid-based Grupo InvestBlue has also ordered one 328JET that will be used with an executive interior.

Meanwhile, Philip Morris is to become one of the first two recipients of the Envoy 3. The 328 has previously been available in an executive version, but not with the Envoy 3 specifications, which include a six foot two inch cabin height.

Fairchild Dornier is also launching an executive version of its 728JET, the Envoy 7, which will appeal to larger corporates.

The company had put supplemental type certification (STC) on hold for the Envoy 3’s dropped floor, after customers preferred personally modified 328s as a quicker alternative.

Heinrich Grund, head of sales, explained the reason why it had taken two years for the first order of the $13.35 million jet: “Our engineers have been very busy working on executive versions of the 328, specific to each customer.

“These were often similar to the Envoy 3, but the dropped floor was not implemented due to the time constraints imposed by the customer. Consequently the STC was not needed until now.”

The 328 has also recently been FAA and JAA approved for operations to 35,000 feet, allowing greater fuel efficiency and more flexible route planning, which Grund says has increased interest. There have been 230 orders for the 328 to date, making it the flagship of Dornier’s manufacturing base.

Peter Kellner, communications director for Europe, added that everything is going to plan for

the executive model of the 728, the Envoy 7.

He said: “Our schedule for the Envoy 7 sets its first flight in 2003, and it will be ready for customer delivery a year later.”

Speaking before the Paris Air Show, he added: “We will display a special version of the winglet and a cabin mock-up at the show, allowing the public a first glimpse of the aircraft.”

There have been 29 orders for the Envoy 7 at present.

The $31.1 million jet seats 18 passengers in its 10.6 foot wide, seven foot high cabin and has a flight range of 4,150 nautical miles.