Bombardier Aerospace (Montreal and Toronto) on December 14 showcased the first two CRJ1000 NextGen regional jets destined for its launch customers, Air Nostrum (Valencia) and Brit Air (Morlaix) in a special ceremony at Bombardier’s Mirabel, Québec facility, where the CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft are assembled.

Air Nostrum’s first CRJ1000, officially designated as the CL-600-2E25, is registered as EC-LJR (msn 19002).

Brit Air’s first CRJ1000 is registered as F-HMLA (msn 19004) and will soon enter revenue service on the Lyon-Rome route.

Bombardier launched the CRJ1000 on February 19, 2007. It was previously designated as CRJ900X, as it is a stretched CRJ900, with up to 100 seats. The CRJ1000 competes against the Embraer ERJ 190.

MyAir had also ordered 15 CRJ900Xs that were converted to the CRJ1000, but the airline went bankrupt on July 24, 2009.

The CRJ1000 successfully completed its first flight in 2008. Bombardier, however, stated that the introduction into service had been delayed until the first quarter of 2010.

The variant completed its first production flight on July 28, 2009 in Montreal. A month after the first flight, however, a fault in the rudder controls forced the flight-test program to be grounded. The program was not resumed until February 2010.

Bombardier Aerospace announced on November 10, 2010 that its 100-seat CRJ1000 was awarded an Aircraft Type Certificates from Transport Canada and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) clearing the way for deliveries to begin.