Bombardier says it is in “advanced negotiations” with potential CSeries launch customers worldwide, and is “quietly confident” of securing the required backing to give the new twinjet a full go-ahead in the coming months.
“I’d expect to see us launch with orders for 40-60 aircraft from two or three customers,” says Steve Crowley, Bombardier’s vice-president sales and marketing for its new commercial aircraft division.
Northwest Airlines has declared interest in the new 110- to 135-seat family and is one of several potential launch customers, says Crowley, others being “a European, Middle Eastern, or Chinese carrier and a leasing company”.
Although the launch decision for the new twinjet has been delayed as it seeks customers, Bombardier is still targeting early 2010 for the aircraft’s entry into service (EIS). Crowley says the company has a margin of up to four more months to give the go-ahead before there is any danger of the EIS target slipping.
He says the baseline C110 has a list price of $37 million, while the larger C135 is priced at $41 million. “The break-even base will be around 500 aircraft, which we should reach within five years.”
MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/MONTREAL
Source: Flight International
