Sheikh Rashid Signs LOI

A high-flying, far-dreaming company has won its first order. Aerion, through its international sales distributor ExecuJet, took an order this week for its supersonic business jet from Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Noaimi, Head of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department. He signed a letter of intent at the 2007 Dubai Air Show.

"We have often said that Mach 1.6 is the new speed of leadership," said Aerion Vice Chairman Brian Barents. "Sheikh Rashid will be one of the first world leaders to routinely fly above the speed of sound. We very much appreciate this tangible endorsement of Aerion and its groundbreaking supersonic design."

"This week we have seen orders for the biggest and the fastest airplanes," said Sheikh Rashid. "In the new global economy there is a place for both. For me, speed confers great advantages. It will simply speed up the pace of business activities, and allow me to take key business associates to more places, discussing more opportunities."

The order comes three days after Aerion announced it was accepting orders for the supersonic bizjet, appointing Zurich, Switzerland-based ExecuJet as its international sales agent outside the Americas. The company says interest since then has been strong, and a number of discussions are underway.

The Aerion supersonic business jet was publicly unveiled in October 2004. Since then, wind tunnel and other tests have taken the aircraft to an advanced stage of design.... but the company is seeking to recruit an aircraft manufacturer to serve as program integrator.

FMI: www.aerioncorp.com, www.execujet.ch