Avantair Places Order for 20 Phenom 100 Jets

Business Wire, Oct 17, 2006

Embraer's Phenom 100 jet will allow Avantair to expand their product offering

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Avantair, a leading provider of fractional aircraft shares, announced today at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting and Convention that it has placed an order for 20 Phenom 100 executive jets from Embraer. Avantair's firm contract has an order value of $57 million at list price in January 2005 economic conditions. The Phenom 100 is expected to enter service in mid-2008 and Avantair is scheduled to take delivery of its first aircraft in June 2009.

"The Phenom 100 is a perfect addition to our fleet," stated Matt Doyle, Avantair Vice President of Sales. "It gives us an advantage in the marketplace by allowing us to offer our existing and potential owners the best in the Very Light Jets category in both fuel efficiency and cabin comfort."

The addition of Embraer's Phenom 100 to Avantair's current fleet will give them the opportunity to offer a wider variety of aircraft and fractional share programs options. Avantair also offers custom programs and travel solutions that provide the highest quality of customer service.

"As one the largest fractional ownership companies in the world, Avantair has placed tremendous faith and trust in Embraer's products," said Luis Carlos Affonso, Embraer Executive Vice-President, Executive Jets. "We are immensely grateful to Avantair and we are confident that the Phenom 100 will offer the finest in performance, reliability, efficiency and premium comfort that has become synonymous with the Avantair name."

Embraer's Phenom 100 is the most suitable choice for ownership management programs and air taxi operations in that it is designed for high utilization and high availability. It is designed for at least 35,000 cycles of operation. Although business jets typically operate around 500 hours per year, the Phenom jets' design philosophy of high availability and reliability is the same as that of the ERJ 145 and EMBRAER 170/190 family of commercial jets that operate well over 2,000 hours per year.

The Phenom 100 Jet

The Phenom 100 is best-in-class. Premium comfort, outstanding performance and low operating costs are key design drivers for this jet. The aircraft will offer pilots and passengers the comfort and style unseen in its category. The relaxing ambience is enhanced by the size of the generous windows and the most ample cabin in its class. Onboard conveniences include a wardrobe or refreshment center, an aft cabin private lavatory with toiletry cabinet, and satellite communications.

The pilot-friendly cockpit and the docile flying qualities of the new aircraft will enable single-pilot operation. Drawing from Embraer's design and engineering heritage, the Phenom 100 will be built for high utilization and availability. For added safety and reliability the jet will offer a standard brake-by-wire system with anti-skid capability.

Based upon Garmin's all-glass, fully-integrated avionics suite, the Prodigy flight deck offers Phenom Jet operators more advantages than any other avionics suite on today's market. The pilot-friendly cockpit features three interchangeable 12-inch displays - two primary flight displays (PFD) and one multi-function display (MFD). The system integrates all primary flight, navigation, communication, terrain, traffic, weather, engine instrumentation, and crew-alerting system data and presents the composite information in brilliant, sunlight-readable color on three high-definition displays.

The Phenom 100 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW617F engines with 1,615 pounds of thrust each. Its range with four occupants onboard will be 1,160 nautical miles (2,148 km or 1,335 miles) with NBAA IFR reserves, 35 minutes, and 100 nm alternate; or 1,320 nautical miles (2,445 km or 1,519 miles) with NBAA VFR reserves, 45 minutes. The Phenom 100 is capable of flying at 41,000 feet (12,497 m) with a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.70 and is designed for short field takeoff performance. These characteristics will allow customers to fly nonstop from New York to Miami; from Los Angeles to Vancouver or Denver at a lower cost than competitive aircraft.

The Phenom 100 is priced at US$2.85 million in January 2005 economic conditions for FAA certification and is expected to enter service in mid-2008.

On October 2, 2006, Avantair announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by publicly-traded Ardent Acquisition Corp. (OTCBB: AACQ, AACQU, AACQW). Following consummation of the acquisition, Avantair's current management team will remain in place, joined by Barry Gordon, the current Chief Executive Officer of Ardent, who will become non-executive Chairman of the Board. In addition, it is intended that, upon consummation of the acquisition, Ardent will change its name to "Avantair" and will apply for a NASDAQ listing. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter 2007.

About Avantair

Headquartered in Clearwater, FL, Avantair Inc. is the exclusive North American provider of fractional aircraft shares in the Piaggio Avanti P.180 aircraft. Avantair is the fifth largest company in the North American fractional aircraft industry and the only standalone fractional operator. The company currently manages a fleet of 25 planes with another 58 on order. With operations in 5 states and approximately 250 employees, Avantair offers private travel solutions for individuals and companies at a fraction of the cost of whole aircraft ownership. More information about Avantair is available on its website, www.avantair.com.