May Launch 110-Seat Program After Friday Board Meeting

Bombardier may finally be ready and willing to commit to launching a 110-passenger commercial airliner, according to one source at this week's Singapore Air Show.

Thomson Financial reports the Canadian planemaker may soon announce the formal launch of the long-anticipated C-Series, a plane intended to place Bombardier among the ranks of narrowbody airliners produced by Airbus and Boeing. The board of directors at Bombardier is expected to make its "authorization to offer" decision at a meeting Friday, the source said.

Bombardier has taken a halting approach toward launching the C-Series aircraft. In January 2006, the planemaker announced it didn't see enough demand among airlines to justify introducing an aircraft larger than its upcoming 100-seat CRJ1000... but, as ANN reported in June of that year, the company continued work on the larger plane's development.

At that time, Northwest Airline was seen as a likely launch customer for the C-Series, as that airline looked to replace its aging fleet of DC-9s. The Eagan, MN-based airline is still seen as a possible customer for the aircraft, though talk of a Northwest merger with Delta Air Lines muddies the waters somewhat.

Also among possible C-Series candidates is International Lease and Finance Corporation. Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of the aircraft lessor, said this week his company was studying the jet "carefully."

Bombardier has said it needs between 50-100 firm orders to justify launching the program. If a decision is made soon, it would be 2013 before the first C-Series jets would enter service.

On Thursday, a Bombardier spokeswoman would only say the planemaker is still finalizing arrangements on the program, but did add "things are going well."

"There's very high interest from airlines around the world in the C-series," the spokeswoman said. "It's looking good."

Bombardier has already lined up a support infrastructure for the plane. The planemaker has already identified its Mirabel, Montreal plant as the final assembly site for the C-Series, with the fuselage produced in China and wings made in Belfast, Ireland.

As ANN reported, China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC I) and Bombardier announced at last year's Paris Air Show a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a new, long-term strategic cooperation in the five-abreast, 90- to 149-seat commercial aircraft market. Under that pact, Bombardier pledged to participate in the development of AVIC I's five-abreast ARJ21-900 aircraft -- which could share components with the C-Series.

FMI: www.bombardier.com, www.avic1.com.cn