A NEW order worth more than $120 million (€90.7 million) for four commercial aircraft is set to deliver a welcome confidence boost for workers at Bombardier Aerospace’s Belfast factory.

The Canadian group has secured a firm order from Toronto-based Porter Airlines for four Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft.

Porter Airlines has also taken options on a further six aircraft which could push the final value of the order to $308 million.

Senior management at Bombardier’s Northern Ireland operations, which employs more than 5,000 people, said the order was very welcome given the challenging market environment.

The Belfast site is responsible for the manufacture of fuselage sections and wing-mounted flight components for the Q400 NextGen aircraft.

A new contract win of this size for Bombardier, which is the largest manufacturing employer in the North, helps secure work on production lines across its four plants. It is unlikely to generate any further jobs in the North, but it will sustain existing positions.

Northern Ireland management is confident east Belfast-based Short Brothers will continue to play a key role in the production of all of Bombardier’s range of commercial and business aircraft.

“Whilst challenges remain this year, business indicators are showing signs of improvement for the global industry.

“There were also positive signs at the Farnborough Air Show, where Bombardier announced orders of some $1 billion for business and commercial aircraft – all aircraft in which Belfast plays a major role,” said one of the local team.

The Northern Ireland operation will also be responsible for the design, manufacture and integration of the complete wing for Bombardier’s next generation CSeries aircraft.

Nearly 400 engineering and support staff in Belfast have been involved in the research and development of the wings.

More than 4,000 tests have already been carried out on the Northern Ireland-designed and manufactured CSeries aircraft composite demonstrator wing.

Last month a team in Belfast completed the ultimate load test on the demonstrator wing where they replicated 150 per cent of the most severe forces the wing is ever likely to experience in service.

According to Bombardier, in the region of 800 jobs will be generated once the CSeries aircraft wings go into full production early next year.