Story updated with clarification from Transport Canada on the AIP and comments on the flight test permit.
Transport Canada has added six months of potential airspace restrictions around Mirabel airport for the flight test programme of Bombardier's new CSeries, as the airframer prepares to begin flight tests during the coming weeks.
The window for potential restrictions will be 22 months from this August through May 2015, according to an Aeronautical Information Products (AIP) Canada update released by NAV Canada dated 22 August. The update replaces an 18-month timeline from May 2013 to November 2014.
Transport Canada says that the AIP is a guide for pilots and is separate from a flight test permit for the CSeries. It adds that no test permit has been issued.
The window has been extended to include flight testing of the 135-seat CS300 as well as a buffer for any additional tests that are needed, says Montreal-based Bombardier.
The OEM maintains that entry into service of the 110-seat CS100 will be about 12 months after first flight.
The airspace restrictions update comes after Montreal-based National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said that entry into service for the CSeries could be delayed to early 2015 based on the repeated delays of the first flight, on 19 August.
The CS100 test aircraft known as FTV-1 began low-speed taxi tests on 16 August, a precursor to the first flight.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
