Bombardier has been hugely successful with its CRJ family of aircraft, which surprisingly emanated from the design used on the Canadair 600 Challenger business jet. Pictured is a CRJ200, which has been the most successful version to date with over 700 delivered. This example belongs to Lufthansa Cityline and is wearing special markings to illustrate some of the European cities served by the carrier.

In order to comply with scope clause requirements in its pilot's contracts, which limited the number of 50-seat aircraft in its fleet, Bombardier created the CRJ440 for Northwest Airlines to carry 44 passengers.

Bombardier is continuing to capitalize on the success of the CRJ100/200 by offering a business jet variant called the Challenger 850. This example, C-GSUW, was the first of this version to be delivered and entered service with Suncor Energy in March 2006.

First variant of the CRJ family to be produced was the CRJ100, which was designed to carry 50 passengers and entered service in 1992. This aircraft belongs to Brit Air, a subsidiary of Air France.

To create an aircraft that could accommodate 70 passengers Bombardier stretched the CRJ100/200 fuselage by 15ft 6in. The new variant was named the CRJ700 and first flew in 1999. This aircraft belongs to US carrier Horizon Air, one of 20 it has in service.

Bombardier decided to stretch the CRJ fuselage again in order to carry up to 90 passengers. The resulting CRJ900 entered service in 2001 and was followed by extended and long-range variants. This example is owned by Mesa Airlines, though is operated for America West Express.

Even though the CRJ700, 900 and 1000 are not old designs, Bombardier announced in May 2007 that it is now offering NextGen variants of these aircraft that will be more efficient to operate and maintain. They will also feature a redesigned cabin with larger windows. One of the airlines that decided to opt for a new variant is illustrated in this computer-generated image of a Pluna CRJ900.

Проект регионального реактивного самолета Бомбардье CRJ1000
In February this year Bombardier announced that it was launching the CRJ1000,the fuselage of which is 128ft 4in long. Designed to carry 100 passengers, the type is expected to enter service in 2009.