A Lufthansa CRJ-900 on approach to Zagreb airport, September 17, 2008.
The Canadair CRJ (short for Challenger Regional Jet) is a family of regional jets manufactured by Canadair.
Canadair began developing the CRJ in the late 1980s as an expansion of the Challenger 610E. The 50-seat CRJ-100 made its first flight on May 10, 1991 and entered service with Lufthansa in November 1992. In 1995, Canadair introduced the CRJ-200, which was identical to the 100 except for more fuel-efficient engines.
The success of the CRJ-200 led Canadair to begin work on a stretched variant. The CRJ-700, which seats between 63 and 78 passengers, made its first flight on May 27, 1999 and entered service in 2001 with Brit Air. This was followed by the 76-90-seat CRJ-900 and the 100-seat CRJ-1000. The CRJ-100 and 200 ceased production in 2006.