Bombardier Launches CSeries

The long-awaited launch of Bombardiers 110- to 149-seat CSeries was formally launched yesterday at Farnborough after Lufthansa placed a Letter of Interest for 30 firm orders and 30 options and airlines around the world expressed significant interest. The company also said that it would not move assembly to the U.S., retaining Mirabel as the final assembly site supported by Bombardier’s Belfast facility for the development and manufacture of wings. The aft fuselage and cockpit will be done at Saint-Laurent. The new bird is set for service introduction in 2013.
The approximate list price for the aircraft is $46.7 million making the value of the Lufhansa order $2.8 billion should all options be exercised.
Bombardier increased its projected performance of the aircraft, saying that it will improve fuel burn up to 20 percent over current narrow body aircraft in addition to up to 15 percent improved cash operating costs versus current in-production aircraft of similar size, according to Gary Scott, president, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. "The CSeries family offers the greenest single-aisle aircraft in its class," he said. "These game-changing aircraft emit up to 20 percent less CO2 and up to 50 percent less NOx, fly four times quieter, and deliver dramatic energy savings. The CSeries aircraft will set a new benchmark in the industry, consuming as little as two liters of fuel per passenger per 100 kilometers in its more dense seating layouts."
At Farnborough the company said discussions with a number of established airlines worldwide are progressing well.
"Today is a great day for Bombardier, our customers, our employees, our shareholders and our suppliers,” said Pierre Beaudoin, president and CEO of Bombardier Inc. “I am proud to say that we have met our business plan objectives: a technologically advanced aircraft family, a strong pipeline of orders and repayable investments with governments and agreements with key suppliers. With the latest in system technologies and aerodynamics, the CSeries family of aircraft will revolutionize the economics and network strategies for airline operations in the 100- to 149-seat commercial market. It is another example of our commitment to designing and manufacturing innovative aircraft that will ensure our continued industry leadership,"
Bombardier has received and accepted offers of repayable investments from the governments of Canada and Quebec as well as Northern Ireland and British Government Departments. The total repayable investments will cover approximately one-third of the expected R&D costs. Bombardier will also contribute about one-third, as will key suppliers.