May Launch 110-Seat Program After Friday Board Meeting
Bombardier may finally be ready and
willing to commit to launching a 110-passenger commercial airliner,
according to one source at this week's Singapore Air Show.
Thomson Financial reports the Canadian planemaker may soon
announce the formal launch of the long-anticipated C-Series, a
plane intended to place Bombardier among the ranks of narrowbody
airliners produced by Airbus and Boeing. The board of directors at
Bombardier is expected to make its "authorization to offer"
decision at a meeting Friday, the source said.
Bombardier has taken a halting approach toward launching the
C-Series aircraft. In January 2006, the planemaker announced it
didn't see enough demand among airlines to justify introducing an
aircraft larger than its upcoming 100-seat CRJ1000... but, as ANN reported in June of that
year, the company continued work on the larger plane's
development.
At that time, Northwest Airline was seen as a likely launch
customer for the C-Series, as that airline looked to replace its
aging fleet of DC-9s. The Eagan, MN-based airline is still seen as
a possible customer for the aircraft, though talk of a Northwest
merger with Delta Air Lines muddies the waters somewhat.
Also among possible C-Series candidates is International Lease
and Finance Corporation. Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of the aircraft
lessor, said this week his company was studying the jet
"carefully."
Bombardier has said it needs between 50-100 firm orders to
justify launching the program. If a decision is made soon, it would
be 2013 before the first C-Series jets would enter service.
On Thursday, a Bombardier spokeswoman would only say the
planemaker is still finalizing arrangements on the program, but did
add "things are going well."
"There's very high interest from airlines around the world in
the C-series," the spokeswoman said. "It's looking good."
Bombardier has already lined up a support infrastructure for the
plane. The planemaker has already identified its Mirabel, Montreal
plant as the final assembly site for the C-Series, with the
fuselage produced in China and wings made in Belfast, Ireland.
As ANN reported, China
Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC I) and Bombardier announced at
last year's Paris Air Show a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to
develop a new, long-term strategic cooperation in the five-abreast,
90- to 149-seat commercial aircraft market. Under that pact,
Bombardier pledged to participate in the development of AVIC I's
five-abreast ARJ21-900 aircraft -- which could share components
with the C-Series.