Bombardier Cseries thread

Bombardier extends flight testing for CSeries by 6 months

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MONTREAL — Bombardier Inc. received permission from Canadian regulators to extend its CSeries flight-test program by about six months to May 2015, documents show.

The amended schedule, oddly dated Aug. 22, 2013, or this Thursday, also implicitly appears to assume that the CSeries airliner’s maiden flight will come within the next 11 days, as flight coverage begins this month.

And an analyst wrote in a note to clients Monday that he believes a delay for entry into service of the aircraft to 2015 is “inevitable.”

The CSeries’ inaugural flight has been pushed back three times and is expected any day now.

But entry into service promised to airlines would be significantly affected by a longer flight-test program. Bombardier has consistently said that EIS, as it’s commonly known, will be roughly one year after the start of the flight-test program, now imminent.

Bombardier spokesperson Marc Duchesne said that the extension to May 2015 includes the flight-test program for the CS300, the 130-seat variant of the CS100 110-seat aircraft that will fly soon. That larger aircraft’s development is in its initial stages, and is due out roughly one year after the CS100.

“Plus we keep buffer for additional flight testing that will be ongoing even after EIS,” Duchesne added.

Bombardier recently performed high-power and reverse-thrust engine tests and low-speed taxiing exercises of the CS100 flight-test vehicle at Mirabel, one of the last tests before going on to high-speed taxi runs and, after that, first flight.(You can see the company’s low-speed taxiing video at http://cseries.com/ftv1s-need-for-speed) Nav Canada spokesperson John Morris said he could “not deny or confirm anything.”

“It’s Bombardier’s business and I’ll leave it to them to comment — we’re not going to. That sort of document is confidential anyway.”

Morris and Duchesne could not say why the document is dated Aug. 22.

Nav Canada is Canada’s air-traffic control manager, and also trains ATC from foreign countries. It gave Bombardier the all-clear for the extension, giving highly precise airspace navigational co-ordinates from Mirabel within which Bombardier is allowed to test the CSeries.

A Nav Canada/Transport Canada document titled AIP Canada Supplement (AIP stands for aeronautical information publication) 41/13 replaces 17/13, dated May 2, which had set the flight-test program from May 2013 to November 2014. The latest version dated Aug. 22 allows the certification program to run from August 2013 until May 2015.

In a report, analyst Cameron Doerksen of Montreal’s National Bank Financial made no reference to the Transport Canada/Nav Canada documents, but noted that he also expects “EIS to be pushed to early 2015.”

“Given Bombardier’s inability to correctly predict the timing of first flight, we think it is inevitable that the already aggressive flight-test program will take more than a year and that EIS will be pushed to the right.”

He estimated, however, that the financial consequences of the delay “will not be overly material.” In fact, such overruns could even affect Bombardier margins — and shares — positively in 2014, he argued, given that first deliveries in 2015 would typically come at the cost of “negative margins.”





Bombardier’s stock will get a tonic from first flight, Doerksen believes, but that will be almost immediately mitigated by “investors (who) are likely to shift their focus to the risks associated with the flight test program itself and potential delays to EIS, as well as the lack of recent orders for the CSeries.”

He contended that the first flights of the CSeries test vehicles will validate Bombardier’s claims of sharp cuts in fuel consumption, toxic gas emissions and noise that “importantly, ... can be used as a marketing tool in sales campaigns.”

Transport Canada could not immediately comment.
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Damn.
 
Air Canada studying Bombardier Cseries

Air Canada is studying Bombardier's new CSeries jet as it focuses on deciding by the end of the year which narrow-body to purchase for its fleet, the airline's chief executive said.
"It's a big, big decision because it's more than 100 airplanes total," CEO Calin Rovinescu told reporters at the opening of a new operations centre near Toronto's Pearson Airport.
Bombardier expects the single-aisle CSeries, with up to 160 seats, to make its first test flight in the next few months and to be in service about a year later.
A big purchase by Air Canada would do much to bolster the CSeries' disappointing order book.
Montreal-based Bombardier had announced 177 firm CSeries orders by late July, well short of its target of at least 300 firm orders by the middle of next year. It failed to firm up new business at this summer's Paris Air Show even as its competitors announced big orders.
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Russia’s Vim Airlines to Lease Five Bombardier CS300s from Ilyushin Finance Co.

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Russian carrier Vim Airlines has agreed to lease five Bombardier CS300s from Russia lessor Ilyushin Finance Co.

Vim Airlines’ decision to lease the five Bombardier CS300 jets from Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC) was announced on August 29 at the MAKS 2013 Air Show.

On August 29, 2013, lessor Ilyushin Finance Co. announced at the MAKS 2013 Air Show in Moscow that it had agreed to lease five Bombardier CS300 jets to Vim Airlines, which is based at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. Vim Airlines thus became IFC’s first leasing customer for aircraft from its 32-aircraft Bombardier CS300 order, which also included options for 10 more of the type


In June, Ilyushin Finance Co. finalized a purchase agreement with Bombardier covering a firm order for 32 CS300s and options for 10 more.

Vim Airlines, which is based at Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport (IATA code DME), is IFC’s first lessee for CS300 airliners.

As a result, Vim Airlines is in pole position to become Russia’s first airline to operate the Bombardier CSeries family of commercial jets.

At the Moscow show Alexander Kochnev, director general of Vim Airlines and Alexander Rubtsov, director general of IFC, joined Rod Sheridan, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft’s vice president, sales and asset management for a signing ceremony to mark the lease agreement,

The ceremony was hosted at Bombardier’s booth at the MAKS 2013 Air Show.

On February 20, 2013, Moscow-based lessor Ilyushin Finance Company signed a conditional purchase agreement for 32 Bombardier CS300 jets and took options on 10 more. The leasing company’s shareholders approved the order and on June 4, 2013 IFC signed a firm deal with Bombardier


According to Bombardier Aerospace, during the event Kochnev said he was impressed with Bombardier’s meticulous attention to detail in the construction of the “very spacious” aircraft cabin and cockpit demonstrator that was on display at the air show.

The previous day, on August 28, IFC signed a letter of intent (LOI) at the MAKS 2013 Air Show to order 50 Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprops.

The LOI was one of a series of agreements signed by Bombardier and Russian companies with a view to Bombardier setting up a final assembly line in Russia to produce at least 100 Q400 NextGen regional airliners for operation by carriers based in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

These aircraft would be ordered by IFC and Rosteknologii leasing subsidiary Avia Capital Services, which would lease the Q400 NextGens to or finance them for Russian operators.
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http://www.airlinesanddestinations....e-bombardier-cs300s-from-ilyushin-finance-co/
 
First flight to occur before Sept. 17 -source

TORONTO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc's all-new CSeries aircraft is poised to take to the skies before Sept. 17, when the company is hosting an event to celebrate the maiden voyage, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Montreal-based Bombardier, which has already delayed the new aircraft's maiden flight three times, said on Friday it has now received a flight test permit from industry regulator Transport Canada, paving the way for the maiden flight of the aircraft - the first all-new narrow-body jet to be built in decades.

Bombardier is hoping to carve a niche for itself in the cutthroat airplane market with the fuel-efficient, medium-haul jet, but the all-new CSeries needs an avalanche of orders to be able to vie against Boeing's 737 Series and Airbus's A320 Series aircraft that dominate this segment.

The company, which said last month that it expects the first flight to occur "in the coming weeks," reiterated that message on Friday but would not provide further details.

The source, who was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the flight is likely to occur before Sept. 17, when the company is hosting an event in Mirabel, Quebec for its partners, and others, to celebrate the maiden voyage.

The exact date of the first flight has not yet been nailed down, as the jet still has to undergo high-speed taxi tests, landing gear tests and other checks before it takes to the air, said the source.

Bombardier said the first flight of the CSeries jet is also contingent on "optimal" weather conditions.

Shares of Bombardier were up 2.5 percent at C$4.85 in afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.


DELAYED ENTRY

Earlier this month, Bombardier conceded that the CSeries' entry into service would be delayed by about two months due to the delays in the test flight. The company has stated repeatedly that the jet will be in service a year after the first flight.

Many industry observers have been skeptical about the company's target to put the plane into service by mid-2014. Some analysts, who gleaned information from regulatory filings, last week noted that they only expect the aircraft to enter into service sometime in 2015.

The first flight will be the culmination of a five-year, $3.4-billion development program for the CSeries.

Bombardier says the aircraft, designed for the 100- to 149-seat market, is expected to be up to 12,000 lbs (5,443 kgs) lighter than other aircraft in the same category. Weight reductions in aircraft typically result in reductions in fuel burn and cost savings for airlines.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/30/bombardiers-cseries-idUSL2N0GV0VF20130830
 
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MONTREAL — On Dec. 15, 2009, in typical rain-soaked Seattle weather, Boeing Co.’s Dreamliner 787 soared on its long-awaited maiden flight. So why can’t Bombardier Inc.’s CSeries take off in the rain?

By choice, actually.

FTV1, the CSeries’ first flight-test vehicle, has been painted a gleaming white with blue engines and tailfin. The airliner is running through the final tests, including a high-speed taxiing roll this week that took at least part of the aircraft off the ground. Reaching 124 knots — 229.65 kilometres per hour — the nose landing gear lifted off slightly as the aircraft just attained V1, the point after which an aircraft can no longer safely abort its takeoff roll.

The CSeries is poised to lift off imminently — but in clement weather.

Bombardier has said for months that the CSeries’ first flight would come only in “optimal conditions,” meaning agreeable weather defined mostly as a lack of rain and clouds and a dry runway.

But that is not a requirement, as the Dreamliner showed.

That inaugural flight took place in spite of a heavy cloud cover, a runway glistening with rain-water and at least occasional rainy interludes. At landing after a nearly three-hour flight — cut short by the threat of a heavy rainstorm — the first test vehicle landed as rain pelted the 787.

Experts agree that greater visibility, sun and dry weather are the best conditions for an inaugural flight, particularly of an aircraft with a number of advanced or untested systems and components like the CSeries. It will be the first flight, for instance, of Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan engine, on anything other than a test-bed aircraft.

So the stakes are great.

“Yes, for the very first flight, there are precautions that are taken,” said Ross Aimer, a former United Airlines pilot and CEO of Aero Consulting Experts in San Clemente, Calif.

“But rain shouldn’t be a factor, unless there are extreme weather conditions.”

Dry weather is good for dry-runway tests, but those are usually conducted later, noted Aimer, who added he was never a test pilot.

“In fact, I would think that when we saw the Dreamliner take off in inclement weather, that kind of instills more confidence in an airplane.”

“It may not look pretty, but for the people interested (all the airlines that bought the CSeries are scheduled to attend the lift-off), rain would be even better.”

But Marc Duchesne, spokesman for Bombardier Aerospace, replied that “that is not a comment I find acceptable.”

“We’re doing everything humanly possible to minimize risk, that’s why we want optimal weather conditions. It’s really us, internally, who want to do things perfectly. Safety is obviously a priority.”

“Boeing flew in the rain, and that was their decision. We want optimal conditions for an equally optimal flight.”

“The Dreamliner looks a bit like their other planes. But it’s the first time we have a commercial passenger jet with under-wing engines, a brand new plane that came off a drawing board. So we’re the ones who decide and the CSeries program leaders want optimal conditions for the first flight.


“And it will also be the optimal conditions for our employees who ideally will be on site to see the flight. We have every right to do that and we’re aiming at perfect conditions.

“So we’ll have a flight when the weather is nice.”
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http://www.montrealgazette.com/busi...ng+nice+weather+first+test/8899975/story.html

Cant wait for this first flight. I do hope it goes well and I really hope it helps bring in more orders for Bombardier.
 
CSeries to take flight on Monday

MONTREAL — The CSeries will fly on Monday — barring rain or a technical glitch.


Bombardier Inc. said the long-awaited event would finally go ahead “pending optimal weather conditions and aircraft readiness.”


Five years after Bombardier Inc. launched the airliner program at the Farnborough air show in 2008, the CSeries’ first model, the 110-seat CS100, is now scheduled to perform its much-anticipated maiden flight at Mirabel on Monday morning in front of about 3,000 people.


But the weather remains a question mark. Bombardier has been waiting for sunny and dry weather, and there is a forecast 60-per-cent chance of showers on Monday. It appeared at one point the weekend would hold a two-day respite from the mercurial weather of the past week, raising the possibility the flight would be held on Sunday. Clement weather is a key element as the company wants a dry runway to test some metrics — and the wow factor for employees, airline customers and VIPs in attendance.


Bombardier Aerospace spokesperson Marc Duchesne said “we need nice weather” for the event, but would not say whether the flight would be scrubbed if it rains.


He said the exact time of the flight would be confirmed on Sunday, but its duration would be known only at landing. The airliner, which is just starting its year-long — and maybe more — flight-test program, will be followed throughout the flight by a chase plane, a Bombardier Global 5000. The high-end corporate jet will carry cameras and other unspecified equipment for various measurements.


Bombardier’s top executives will attend “if they’re in Montreal that day,” Duchesne said.


The first flight of the CSeries — the name originally stood for “competitive continental connector” — will be over Quebec territory only after Transport Canada issued the test aircraft its licence to fly on Aug. 30.


ICAR, a Bombardier neighbour in Mirabel, is charging the public $20 per car to attend the event “only metres from the runway.”


Duchesne said “unfortunately, we can’t accommodate the general public,” but invited those interested to watch a live webcast at www.cseriesfirstflight.bombardier.com or www.premiervolcseries.bombardier.com.


Originally scheduled by the end of last year, the inaugural flight — if no snags crop up by Monday — will be 8½ months late.


Aerospace consultants say the delay, although embarrassing for Bombardier, is within the norm for such a project. The CSeries is Bombardier’s most ambitious — and risky — aircraft program in its 27-year history after it acquired Canadair in 1986 for $200 million. It’s the first so-called “clean-sheet design” — a brand new aircraft rather than modelled on an existing platform — single-aisle airplane in 26 years since the Airbus A320 first flew in 1987. It will feature wing-mounted engines, a first for any Bombardier jet.

The arrival of the CSeries heralds a significant shift in the world’s aircraft pecking order. It will start to engage the market addressed by the world’s two major aircraft-makers — Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS — shaking up the duopoly the two manufacturers have shared for more than four decades. The most recent aircraft-development programs for both firms incurred huge delays. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner was nearly four years late, and is still having teething problems with its lithium ion batteries, while Airbus posted numerous time delays and cost overruns for its A380 double-decker, A350 and A440 military transport. The A350’s first flight came only at the Paris air show in June.

Montreal-based Bombardier has invited executives from the nine airlines that have bought the airplane, and many of the thousands of employees who have worked since 2008 designing, defining and assembling the aircraft.

Bombardier calls the CSeries a game-changer for several reasons: it is powered by a new-technology geared turbofan engine that was designed specifically for the CSeries by Pratt & Whitney, which also developed variants for larger aircraft; it features advanced materials, including carbon composites and lighter metals; together — but mostly because of the engine — these features are designed to cut fuel consumption by 20 per cent, noise by 40 per cent and total operating costs for airlines by 15 per cent. The aircraft’s expected better economy is a critical selling point for Bombardier, but airlines have been slow to take the bait. Bombardier has snagged 177 firm orders in five years, as well as 288 less firm commitments.

Aviation watchers, though, say the first flight is a milestone that spurs airlines to get serious about buying a new aircraft. The earlier an airline buys, the greater the discounts and other incentives, but as the drawing-board “paper airplane” becomes real after the inaugural flight, Bombardier will start charging more for the CSeries in stages as the test-flight program keeps ticking items off the to-do checklist.

Air Canada, in fact, could announce this year or next that it will buy CSeries aircraft as it starts replacing its 100-plane narrow-body fleet.
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http://www.montrealgazette.com/CSeries+take+flight+Monday/8910322/story.html
 
CSeries completes first flight

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QUIET PLANE

The white-and-blue CS100 test aircraft gently touched down in clear, chilly weather beside the Bombardier plant in Mirabel, Quebec, at 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT) before a crowd of employees, media and spectators.

"It flew very well," said Bombardier chief test pilot Ellis. "It's a very, very nice airplane."

About 2-1/2 hours earlier, the plane rose from the tarmac amid cheers and surprisingly little noise from its new engines.

"You could hardly hear the take-off," said Martin Gauss, chief executive officer of Latvian carrier AirBaltic, which has ordered 10 of the larger CS300 planes, which seat 130 passengers.

"This was one of the reasons why we bought it, along with the cost savings from lower fuel burn," he said by telephone after watching the take-off from a spot near the runway.

Montreal-based Bombardier believes big profits await it at the lower end of the market served by Airbus and Boeing - for aircraft seating between 100 and 149 passengers.

Critics say the Canadian design for the medium-haul jet made of light-weight composite materials ignores a trend toward larger aircraft seating 150 people or more as air traffic expands and carriers offer more seats.

Bombardier says its plane will have a 15 percent cash operating cost advantage, 20 percent fuel burn advantage and will be significantly quieter than competing single-aisle jets.

Those proposed improvements prompted Airbus and Boeing to launch in recent years new versions of their older single-aisle models, with similar new, fuel-efficient engines.

Airbus says that when comparing "apples with apples," its upgraded A319neo, part of the A320neo family, will have similar fuel burn and cash costs to the CS300, merely by adopting similar engines. Boeing's competing jet, the 737 MAX, is an update of its best-selling 737 jet, first launched in 1967.

SLIM ORDER BOOK

While most industry experts say Bombardier's aircraft built with composites has the edge on fuel performance, Airbus and Boeing sales pitches emphasize "commonality" with the airlines' existing fleet of A320s and 737s - similar design, controls and components that reduce the cost of training and spare parts.

Airbus and Boeing planes also command cheaper financing since they are the industry's most popular models.

The two big plane makers have won more than 3,800 orders for their A320neo and 737 MAX planes. Only a small portion of those orders are for the smaller models that compete directly with the CSeries, suggesting that airlines prefer larger planes.

In contrast, CSeries sales are at 177 firm orders, far short of Bombardier's goal of 300 by the time the plane enters service next year.

Bombardier, which also makes trains, is staking a claim in a niche: the single-aisle, 100- to 149-seat class that is midway between the size of so-called "regional" planes and the larger commercial jetliners of Boeing and Airbus. Bombardier says it can corner half that market over the next 20 years.

Brazil's Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA), the world's No. 3 planemaker, leads in sales of smaller, regional jets.

The CS100 seats 110 in a typical configuration, while the larger CS300 seats 135 and can be modified to seat up to 160.

Bombardier also says the CSeries will be the world's quietest commercial aircraft, to meet evolving regulation.

After witnessing the flight on Monday, Gauss of AirBaltic said he would talk with Bombardier about increasing the airline's order by dipping into its options for 10 additional planes. AirBaltic has not yet decided how many of these options it will exercise.

While the CSeries performance is strong on paper, now that it is flying, airlines and rival plane makers will see if it lives up to its claims of high fuel efficiency, low operating costs and low noise levels.

Competing plane makers also will look closely at the performance of the CSeries systems and components, most notably its PurePower PW1500G turbofan engine made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp (UTX.N).

"The CSeries has already caused an earthquake in the airliner industry," said Michael Boyd, chairman of aviation consulting group Boyd Group International. "That's what caused Boeing and Airbus to redesign their airplanes."

While the first flight was successful, the CSeries' still faces numerous hurdles before it can start carrying commercial passengers in 12 months.

Guy Hachey, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier, said on Monday that nothing from the flight indicated changing the schedule for entry into service.

The first flight was delayed three times over the last nine months and the plane still faces considerable work in testing, certification and setting up production.

Walter Spracklin, an analyst at RBC Dominion Securities, said in a note to clients on Monday that the delay in the first flight and problems with some fuselages had created uncertainty about the size of cost overruns and suggested a trend toward a "development cost of $3.9 billion - barring any major program delay."

But Spracklin said he didn't expect the cost to harm Bombardier's liquidity. It "can be easily funded through the balance sheet," he said.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/17/us-bombardier-cseries-idUSBRE98F0CL20130917
 
I can't be the only one looking at this thread and seeing this can I?

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Lion Air interested inthe C300

(Reuters) - Canada's Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) and Indonesia's Lion Air confirmed on Thursday the two companies are in talks over a possible deal for the planemaker's new CSeries jets.

Lion Air's chief executive and co-founder, Rusdi Kirana, said the airline was interested in buying the larger version of the narrow-body CS100 jet, which staged its maiden flight last week. Bombardier is aiming to break into a market dominated by Airbus (EAD.PA) and Boeing Co (BA.N).

"I am interested in buying the CS300. We will know how many after we learn about it more deeply," Kirana said by email.

The CS300, which can seat up to 160 passengers, typically fits 130 in a dual-class set-up and 135 in a standard configuration. The smaller CS100 typically seats 110.

Lion Air is Indonesia's largest privately run airline and one of the world's fastest-growing low-cost airlines. Kirana, who visited the CSeries plant near Montreal on Wednesday, said the CS300 would suit the airline's operations.

The Indonesian carrier has already placed record orders for Boeing and Airbus jets to serve the archipelago nation's rapid air traffic growth.

"Definitely we are in discussions with them, so hopefully we'll be able to finalize a deal in a few months," said Marc Duchesne, director of public affairs and communications for Bombardier's commercial aircraft division.

Airlines and country delegations from all over the world are in Montreal this week for the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization's triennial assembly.

Duchesne said close to 20 different airlines and country representatives are visiting Bombardier's CSeries plant in Mirabel, Quebec, some 50 km (30 miles) north of Montreal. He declined to name the other visitors.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/26/us-bombardier-cseries-idUSBRE98P18N20130926

This could be a major boost for the CSeris. Hope it comes through.
 
Order drought for Bombardier CSeries jet extends to Dubai Airshow

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Nov 18 (Reuters) - Canadian plane maker Bombardier Inc failed to announce any sales for its CSeries jet in the opening days of the Dubai Airshow, extending a five-month drought in demand for the all-new model as larger rivals clinched multi-billion dollar deals.

Bombardier has struggled to win orders for its CSeries narrowbody against models from Boeing Co and Airbus . The CSeries has a development cost of C$3.4 billion ($3.25 billion).

Bombardier instead announced on Monday two conditional deals for up to 12 of its Q400 short-haul turboprops, worth a total of $423 million at list prices.

Gulf airlines went on a $150 billion buying spree on Sunday, the first day of the air show, a major aerospace industry event.

Dubai-based airline Emirates led the pack, with an order for 150 of Boeing's new 777 mini-jumbo jets, worth $76 billion at list prices. It also ordered 50 Airbus A380s, the world's largest passenger plane, worth $23 billion.

Bombardier shares, which fell sharply at the end of October after the company said it was reviewing its CSeries schedule, added 5 Canadian cents to C$4.69 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday.

Stonecap Securities analyst Scott Rattee said the stock, trading broadly in line with the market, may be buoyed by news over the weekend that Bombardier's new Learjet 75 business jet got Federal Aviation Administration certification.

"I don't know that there was a high amount of expectation going into this particular show," Rattee said. "In terms of the CSeries, I don't know that this was going to be a headline-grabbing show for them."

Many investors and analysts are worried that Bombardier cannot meet a rigorous schedule that targets CSeries entry-into-service in September 2014 - one year after its thrice-delayed first flight - and now see the first quarter of 2015 as more likely.

That uncertainty, coupled with aggressive price cutting by rivals, is partly behind an anemic CSeries order book. Bombardier has 177 firm orders, signing its last in June with Ilyushin Finance Co, but has repeatedly said it expects to have 300 firm orders by the time the CSeries enters service.

Bombardier management said in October that it had seen a pick up in CSeries interest from customers in the Middle East, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Walter Spracklin.

"There have been several prospective customers in the region since the launch of the CSeries program; and this could just be the air show in which one transacts," the analyst wrote in a research note on Monday.

CSeries orders could also come from airlines including Indonesia's Lion Air, Air Canada, Swiss Air, Flydubai, American Airlines, Nigeria's Arik Air and a Chinese carrier, he wrote.

Bombardier's letter of intent with leasing firm Palma Holding Co, which covers four firm orders and four options for the Q400s, is worth about $282 million at list prices. Palma plans to lease four planes to Ethiopian Airlines, Bombardier said.

Abidjan-based airline, Air Cote d'Ivoire, signed a conditional purchase agreement for two Q400s with options for two more. The two firm orders are valued at about $69 million at list prices, swelling to $141 million if options are exercised, Bombardier said.

At the end of September, Bombardier had booked 476 orders for Q400 turboprops.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/18/airshow-dubai-bombardier-idUSL2N0J30SW20131118
 
Compton_effect said:
Sweet plane.
But the market is saturated with larger competitors who can undercut Bombardier.
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Ja ....I do think that once they can show the data from the test flights relating to fuel economy and reduction in noise then the airlines will start biting. I think many might still be holding back to see if Bombardier can actually deliver on their promises. Double digit reduction in fuel burn is massive and 50% reduction on noise is fantastic.
 
Bombardier resumes ground testing of CSeries jetliner

TORONTO (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc said on Tuesday it has resumed ground engine testing of its all-new CSeries jetliner after an engine failure last week and still expects the narrow-body plane to enter service in the second half of 2015.

Flight testing is expected to resume in the coming weeks, Bombardier said, but the $4.4 billion CSeries aircraft will not appear at the closely watched Farnborough Air Show in July.

"It's positive that they're going to get back to testing in the short term," said Raymond James analyst Steve Hansen.

"(But) I think the bigger issue, from our perspective, is around the timing and the cost of the total program and some of the delays we've already seen."

Engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp, said that after tearing down and analyzing the engine, it likely understands the root cause of the problem. It declined to provide details, however, other than to say its signature gearing system was not involved.

A representative for Pratt & Whitney said the company found that "a slight design modification would allow for continued ground testing" and that it has developed a plan with Bombardier to resume flight testing in the near future.

"Now that we have a good understanding of what happened, a procedure is in place that introduces control measures to avoid such events," Bombardier's CSeries general manager, Rob Dewar, said in a statement.

"We are working to get back on track and today have resumed ground engine runs to return the FTVs (flight test vehicles) to flight test program safely."

Bombardier said that damage to its flight test vehicle from the engine problem was manageable and repairs had begun.
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http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKBN0EL2BX20140610?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Not having this plane at the Farnborough Air Show is a epic mistake. Bombardier dragging their feet with flight tests and not getting this plane out there for airlines to see. I don't know why, but it almost feels like Bombardier does not want this plane to succeed. I think the A350 tallied flight hours that the Cseries did in a year in two months. I am starting to loose faith in Bombardier.
 
Bombardier CSeries Order Hopes Stoked by London City Specialist

CANADIAN CSERIES VS RUSSIAN SUPERJET 100
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Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B)’s CSeries jet has emerged as a frontrunner to form the basis of a new fleet at CityJet Ltd., the biggest carrier at London’s business-focused City Airport where a short runway limits aircraft options.

CityJet owner Intro Aviation GmbH is examining a deal with the Canadian company to replace about 10 BAE Systems Plc (BA/) Avro RJ85 planes as their leases expire, Intro founder Hans Rudolf Woehrl said in an interview. Sukhoi Co.’s Superjet is also in the running, with a decision possible by the end of September.

Intro aims to tap London City’s corporate appeal to turn CityJet profitable after buying the former Air France-KLM Group (AF) unit in April. With the wider Avro fleet of 19 planes due to be stood down as part of a 2 1/2 year renewal plan and the carrier’s Belgian arm VLM operating 15 aging Fokker 50 turboprops, a breakthrough order could herald major gains for Bombardier, which has struggled to win firm CSeries contracts.

“If we opt for a homogeneous fleet, the CSeries would be advantageous,” Woehrl said. “It’s not just about the model. It’s about maintenance, reliability, simulator capacities, resale potential, financing and total costs.”

Bombardier has yet to secure the 300 CSeries orders it’s targeting by the time the jet enters service next year, with recent deals from China’s Zhejiang Loong Airlines Co., lessor Falko Regional Aircraft Ltd. and Jordan’s Petra Airlines involving almost 50 planes all announced on a tentative basis.

Mixed Order

Intro is studying CityJet-VLM options that could result in an all-Bombardier fleet of either the CS100 or CS300 CSeries variants, or a combination of the CS300 plus the longest-range Superjet 100LR, which has engines powerful enough for the steep takeoff required from London City, Woehrl said.

While Embraer SA (ERJ)’s E190 model is in theory a contender for the CityJet requirement, production of the existing version has a limited span, making it a stop-gap solution at best, he said. The E2 upgrade, with Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines, won’t enter production with the Brazilian company until 2018.

The CSeries, Superjet, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. Regional Jet and Embraer E2s will radically change London City services, Declan Collier, its chief executive officer, said in March.

Located six miles from London’s financial district, City’s 1,199-meter (3,934-foot) runway, combined with noise limits, means aircraft must be able to make steep descents and takeoffs. That excludes almost all Boeing Co. (BA) and Airbus Group NV (AIR) models, though the latter’s A318 operates there for British Airways, taking off with a light fuel load and topping up in Ireland.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...r-hopes-stoked-by-london-city-specialist.html
 
Bombardier Sees Decision Shortly on CSeries Engine Fix

The Pratt & Whitney engine on a Cseries powered up
left_engine.jpg

Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) will soon decide whether a fix to the engine failure that halted flight tests of its CSeries jetliner can allow the plane take off again, Chief Executive Officer Pierre Beaudoin said.

The CSeries, Bombardier’s biggest ever jet, remains on schedule to enter service next year, Beaudoin said today as the Montreal-based company reported second-quarter results. Test versions of the CSeries have been grounded since the May 29 incident, when one of two Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines on a CSeries prototype caught fire at the planemaker’s assembly plant in Mirabel, Quebec.

“We’ve now received a solution from Pratt to go back to flight. Our team is examining the solution, asking the proper questions, taking the time to make sure that from a Bombardier perspective, we can have a safe return to flight,” Beaudoin said today on a conference call with analysts. “We should make a decision shortly. This is a technical evaluation we are doing and we may have more questions to Pratt before we make a decision.”
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...ops-estimates-as-aircraft-deliveries-increase
 
Let's hope things go smoothly from here on, they need it. Bombardier is laying off 1 700 people, looking at expanding it's parts manufacture for other companies aircraft and trying to up the sales on the Q400 in China and Russia.
 
garyc said:
Let's hope things go smoothly from here on, they need it. Bombardier is laying off 1 700 people, looking at expanding it's parts manufacture for other companies aircraft and trying to up the sales on the Q400 in China and Russia.
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Ja, they have to get this right. There have been too many delays already and this program have cost them hugely in financial terms. It is going to be a great airliner, but they have to make sure they tread carefully now and try to get this plane into service with a smooth a path as possible.
 
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