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FEATURE BOMBARDIER

















                                            bombardier’s  cseries airliner is   in development costs plus $300M of
                                            an ambitious attempt by the Canadian   capitalized  interest to be spent until the
                                            company to design and build a clean sheet   entry-into-service of the CS300. This
                                            aeroplane to corner a substantial portion   would take total development costs for the
                                            of the 100-149 seat single aisle market.   airplane to $4.4B.
                                               The target segment is a gap that exists   However, matters now hinge on the
                                            between the highest capacity regional jets,   successful completion of the flight test
                                            typically carrying about 80 passengers   programme  and  Entry  into Service (EIS)
                                            and entry level single aisle offerings from   in the second half of next year, getting
                                            Boeing and Airbus starting from 124-  the  CSeries  into  the  hands  of  eager
                                            125  seats  but  typically  seating  140-156   customers. This  is  crucial  for  obtaining
                                            passengers in single class configuration.   more orders for the aircraft, as it will
                                               This  is the  market  Bombardier  is   offer potential customers the chance
                                            gunning for with its CSeries family,   to  observe  its  performance  in  service,
                                            comprising of the 110-125 seat CS100,   before committing to an all new type. The
                                            now due to enter service in the second   four CSeries Flight Test Vehicle’s (FTV)
                                            half of 2015 and the 135-160 seat CS 300   in the flight test program, have together
                                            due to follow in 2016.              accumulated approximately 330 flight test
                                               Bombardier’s Brazilian rival Embraer   hours.
                                            has chosen not to directly compete with   Unfortunately,  the  flight  test
                                            Boeing and Airbus, choosing instead to   programme received a setback in May
                                            offer its 2nd generation E-190-E2 with a   after an incident with Pratt & Whitney’s
                                            maximum of 106 seats in a single class   geared turbofan, grounded the test
                                            configuration, increasing to 132 seats for   fleet. Sebastien Mullot CSeries Program
                                            the E-195-E2                        Director at Bombardier Aerospace, told
                                               Going ahead with a clean sheet design   Asian Airlines & Airports that “The primary
                                            is  risky,  expensive  and  time  consuming,   focus is to identify the root cause and get
                                            especially if delays get out of hand. While   the aircraft back to flight test.” “The plan
                                            Bombardier seems to have handled    is to increase the number of flight hours
                                            the design and development of a brand   and also finalise  the expansion of the
                                            new airplane exceptionally well, it has   flight envelope.” he adds. Engine-ground
                                            been expensive and time consuming,   runs on CSeries  FTV were restarted in
                                            with  scheduled  dates  for  service entry   Mirabel, Québec in June.
                                            having slipped by a year. As of December   “Now  that  we  have  a  good
                                            31,  2013,  the  CSeries  tooling balance   understanding of what happened, a
                                            was at $3.3 Billion with another, $750M   procedure is in place that introduces








                                            The CSeries is decades
                                            ahead of the competition.
                                            However, in service
                                            performance is the true
                                            test and will be keenly
                                            watched by airlines
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