Bombardier is on track to conduct first flight of the CSeries by the end of June but this will not happen before the Paris air show, which begins on 17 June.
"CSeries will not fly by Paris," says Bombardier's senior vice president commercial Chet Fuller. "The plan is in June," he adds, saying: "Looks pretty good. Actually looks great."
First flight was delayed by six months in November 2012, and Bombardier executives have held to a June timeframe since then.
Bombardier has netted only 145 firm orders for the CSeries programme, but Fuller believes that flight data, once available, could help boost the airframer's orderbook.
"Data from the first dozen flights will help," says Fuller. Bombardier has five flight test vehicles for the CS100, and the FTVs are expected to fly a month apart from one another. This means that FTV-2 could be flying in July after first flight in June, although Fuller cautions that the intervals between each FTV's flight could go up to about six weeks.
Referring to delays affecting the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 programmes, Fuller says there has been "enormous overhang" on new aircraft programmes. "We are writing guarantees on things we've never guaranteed," he says, adding: "There's no trust or belief today."
Bombardier believes it will be able to "add more clarity" to its order book at the Paris air show, says Fuller, who adds that the airframer will be unveiling a previously undisclosed customer at the show.
Asked if the airframer could be announcing all-new orders at Paris, Fuller says: "I think so," adding that he was "guardedly optimistic".
Source: Flight Daily News
