Research In Motion Ltd (RIM), the once-mighty makers of BlackBerry phones and tablets has lost 95 per cent of its market value since 2008, and now company will sell one of its two corporate jets in order to save $1 billion in annual costs throughout its operations. It is about the 9-passenger Dassault Aviation SA F50EX aircraft for which company expected to fetch between $6 million – $7 million.
After selling this jet, Canadian tech giant will be left with one larger jet, 14-passanger Dassault F900EX, which cost about $2.2 million in annual operating costs, while first one, jet on sale costs about $2.1 million per year to run based on the hourly flying cost of $3,400.
The sale hasn’t been completed and a RIM spokesperson wouldn’t comment on any specific listing, but would say this:
“We’re looking at options with both our aircraft costs and finding ways to reduce our travel while still making sure we keep in close contact with our partners around the world. It’s all part of the effort to find ways to reduce costs and drive efficiencies that Thorsten Heins (Chief Executive Officer) has talked about.”
Built in 1999, this nine-passenger Dassault Aviation SA F50EX aircraft features , “light warm leather” interior, high gloss Swiss woodwork and gold-plated hardware, custom wool carpet, “ample storage for china and crystal”, and entertainment system with two 14” tracking LCD video monitor, VCR, fax machine printer, CD/DVD player, and four stereo headsets. It boasts with top cruising speed of 475 knots, or about 546 miles per hour as well as a mere 4,213 hours of flight time under its belt.
