Bombardier continues to consider developing a third, larger variant of its CSeries aircraft, though the Canadian manufacturer's prime focus remains certification of its CS100 and CS300, an executive disclosed at the Paris air show today.
"Obviously, we are thinking about opportunities to develop the family, and airlines expect, more and more, to have a family of products," says Colin Bole, newly appointed senior vice-president of sales and asset management at Bombardier's commercial aircraft division.
"This is something we will continue to discuss, [and] when the time is right we will consider the next opportunities," he adds in response to a question about a larger variant. "We are always looking at opportunities to develop the family."
Bole's comments came a few days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Bombardier had re-registered the trademark "CS500", which would presumably be the designation of a larger variant.
But while such a variant could eventually be on the cards, Bole says Bombardier must first complete flight testing of its CS100 and CS300, and ensure that those aircraft enter service smoothly.
The airframer has said it expects to deliver the first of the type, a CS100, to Swiss in the first part of 2016. With 243 firm CSeries orders, Bombardier has not yet reached a goal of 300 by service-entry date.
"We are focused right now on the development, certification and entry into service of the CS100 and CS300, and that is taking a significant amount of our time," Bole says. "We want to make sure that is successful and that we have a proven platform."
Source: Cirium Dashboard
