Entry into service for Bombardier's CSeries could be delayed to the first quarter of 2015, according to a new report by Montreal-based National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen.
"Clearly the time to get to first flight has taken longer than Bombardier had anticipated," he says. "Following on that, it's my best guess that the flight test programme will take them longer than they anticipate."
The 2015 target assumes an about four-month delay from September 2014 - a third of the year-long flight test programme - based on the two-month delay for the first flight from the end of June - a third of the original six-month delay announced in November 2012 - Doerksen adds.
Bombardier said at the beginning of August that it would "re-open" the schedule for entry into service following the first flight of the 110-seat CS100 but maintained that it anticipates the aircraft to enter service 12-months after first flight.
The Canadian airframer says today that that the first flight is expected "within weeks" - placing entry into service with Malmo Aviation around September 2014 under its 12-month timetable.
Bombardier reiterates the 12-month timeline from first flight to entry into service .
Low-speed taxi tests, which are some of the final tests before first flight, of FTV-1 began on 16 August.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
