Analysts: Bombardier Unlikely To Get Many Orders For Its Single-Aisle Airliner

The grounding of Bombardier's CSeries test aircraft may spell slower-than-hoped-for orders for the airplane at Farnborough this week, industry insiders say.

Flight testing was halted in May after an engine fire broke out on board the flight test airplane. While ground testing has resumed, the airplane was unable to fly to Farnborough, and analysts say that the mockup which has been on display is unlikely to generate a lot of interest among potential buyers.

The Financial Post newspaper reports that the airplane's expected entry-into-service remains sometime in mid 2015. But that means that the order book won't start filling up until later this year or early next.

Bombardier has a goal of 300 airplanes on the order books when commercial service is launched in 2015. Bombardier Spokesman Marc Duchesne told the Financial Post that a show like Farnborough is great for making big, splashy announcements of large orders, but there is more to it than that. "It’s also a great place to meet with new customers and it’s also a great place to move forward in our discussions with potential customers,” he said. “We’re going there to talk about sales and to show the aircraft to potential customers.”

Despite the airplane's absence, Bombardier has already announced the signing of several Letters of Intent for both the CS100 and CS300 from the air show this week.

(CSeries pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.bombardier.com