Bombardier News

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced today that a wholly owned affiliate of Macquarie AirFinance has signed a firm purchase agreement for 40 CS300 jetliners and has taken options on an additional 10 CS300 aircraft.

Macquarie AirFinance, which currently owns or manages 136 jet aircraft leased to 73 operators in 43 countries across six continents, will lease the CS300 aircraft to airline operators around the world. Delivery of the aircraft will be on a phased basis from 2017 to 2019.

The CSeries takes Bombardier into the competitive commercial jet market. The new jet competes with smaller offerings from Boeing and Airbus. On Wednesday, Bombardier said it had completed a series of flights with the "fly by wire" electronic control system in what is called normal mode, the setting commercial pilots use during day-to-day operation. The shift to normal mode came later than expected, Newman said, but it's another milestone completed.

(Reuters)

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft and Thailand’s premium low cost airline, Nok Air, showcased the carrier’s second Q400 NextGen turboprop at Bombardier’s facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The extra capacity aircraft, the only commercial turboprop capable of comfortably accommodating 86 passengers, will join Nok Air’s fleet as part of a purchase agreement for up to eight Q400 NextGen airliners, six of which are firm.

Ivory Coast's national carrier Air Cote d'Ivoire is in discussions with Airbus and Bombardier to replace its existing fleet and provide new aircraft for a planned expansion. The company, which launched last year, currently serves 17 destinations in West Africa with its fleet of four leased aircraft, including three Airbus A319s and an Embraer 170. It will launch domestic routes next month with two Q400 NextGen aircraft from Bombardier.

"We have retained the two companies with whom we continue the discussions, and at the end of October we'll take a decision on our future fleet," chief executive Rene Decurey said. Air Cote d'Ivoire plans to add three more aircraft by 2016, he said, adding that Boeing and Embraer had also been involved in the initial talks to supply planes for the expansion through either lease or purchase.

Bombardier today announced the expansion of its Customer Response Team (CRT) through the addition of six new CRT trucks in the United States for business aircraft customers. The new trucks bring the total of CRT trucks to 13. The Customer Response Team also includes a dedicated aircraft which shuttles parts and/or technicians for the resolution of Aircraft on Ground (AOG) for business aircraft in the continental United States. These services provide support for unscheduled/scheduled maintenance at an operator’s location.

Bombardier also announced the addition of Line Maintenance Station in Nice, France at Aéroport Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE). The available services will be affiliated with the Bombardier Service Centre in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The onsite Bombardier technicians will provide unscheduled and scheduled maintenance for business aircraft ranging from trouble shooting, servicing, and minor repairs. The new CRT trucks in the United States and the Line Maintenance Station in Nice, France, will be connected with Bombardier’s 24/7 Customer Response Centre, and the company’s wholly owned business and commercial aircraft service centres as well as Bombardier’s world class Customer Support team.

Bombardier has unveiled a plan to retrofit the Challenger 605 with the Rockwell Collins avionics that will enter service next year on the updated Challenger 650. The Canadian manufacturer launched the Challenger 650 on 20 October with several major updates, including a new version of the Vision flightdeck driven by the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Advanced system with synthetic vision and multi-scan weather radar.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today welcomed Dakar-based Senegal Airlines to the family of Q400 NextGen aircraft customers and operators. Senegal Airlines, the national flag carrier of Senegal, started service today with a Q400 NextGen turboprop airliner wet-leased from Falcon Aviation Services LLC of Abu Dhabi. The aircraft is one of two that were ordered under a firm purchase agreement between Bombardier and Falcon announced in February 2014.

Thomas Flohr's VistaJet is growing by leaps and bounds. I believe they have the largest 'private' Bombardier fleet in the business at the moment with 45 Bombardier aircraft.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today congratulates Flybe on the launch of the airline’s London City Airport operations. Flybe will utilize its fleet of Bombardier Q400 aircraft to siginificantly boost connectivity between Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Inverness, Exeter and the heart of London.

Bombardier Aerospace reported third quarter earnings before interest and taxes of USD$74 million, down from USD$86 million in 2013. Aerospace revenue was USD$2.6 billion out of a total of USD$4.9 billion. The company delivered 71 aircraft in the quarter, compared with 45 in the same period last year. The aerospace division received 76 orders during the quarter, up from 26 in the same period a year earlier, boosted by Macquarie AirFinance's firm order for 40 CSeries jets.

The order came after Bombardier resumed CSeries test flights in September, alleviating some uncertainty after flights had been halted in May after an engine failed during a stationary test. The CSeries is set to go into service in the second half of 2015. Lufthansa said on Thursday its Swiss International unit would not be the launch customer for the CSeries. Bombardier said in September it was in talks with an unidentified airline that could become the first operator of the CSeries. Swiss had been the first customer to place an order for the CSeries in 2009. Swiss has ordered 30 of the new aircraft and is planning to take delivery in the second half of 2015. It has decided to lease four Embraer 190s from partner Helvetic Airways because of the delays to the CSeries.

(Reuters)

Bombardier is continuing to keep the fate of the Learjet 85 programme in limbo
as the company focuses on other development priorities. Despite accumulating more than 100 flight hours since March by the only flying prototype, Bombardier has no scheduled entry into service date or the composite-skinned midsize business jet.

Since development delayed beyond its year-end 2013 target, Bombardier has put the Learjet 85 last in a queue of priorities that include the CSeries and Global 7000/8000 jets. “The Global 7000 an 8000 are a greater priority given the market demand and where we are with the programme,” says Beaudoin, addressing analysts and journalists on a third quarter earnings call on 30 October. The lack of clarity has spawned rumours of certification problems with the Learjet 85, but Beaudoin rejected any lingering issues not related to demand and development priorities. (FG)

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today announced the recent addition of a major new pillar to its growing support network in Europe. The company has appointed Lufthansa CityLine, the original launch customer for the CRJ aircraft, as an Authorized Service Facility (ASF) for its CRJ700 and CRJ900 aircraft.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today celebrated the official opening of its newest Regional Sales and Marketing Office in São Paulo, Brazil as part of its continued focus on regionalizing to be closer to its customers. Bombardier’s São Paulo Office will allow its locally-based sales, marketing and customer services team ease of access to its existing and upcoming South American-based stakeholders.

China Express Airlines Revealed as Customer who Ordered up to 24 Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen Aircraft

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced today that China’s sole specialized regional airline, China Express Airlines (China Express), is the previously announced unidentified customer that had placed a firm order for 16 CRJ900 NextGen regional jets and had taken options for eight additional airliners of the same type. This purchase agreement was initially announced on June 30, 2014.

The announcement was made today in Beijing, in the presence of His Excellency Li Keqiang, Premier, People's Republic of China; The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada; Hu Xiaojun, Chairman, China Express; Wu Longjiang, President, China Express; Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc.; and Jianwei Zhang, President, Bombardier China. As previously announced by Bombardier, based on the list price for the CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, the firm order is valued at approximately $727 million USD. The value could increase to $1.12 billion USD should China Express exercise its options.

Bombardier has been showing its new CSeries jet to potential US buyers as its test flights continue after a summertime halt due to an engine problem. The Canadian plane maker is interested in showing the aircraft to a number of US mainline carriers, including United, said spokeswoman Marianella Delabarrera. She declined to say who has seen it so far.

"We're trying to capture as much of the interest as possible," said Delabarrera of the ongoing demo tour. "We really don't want to disrupt the flight testing if we can prevent that, but there are times when it's convenient." The CSeries is being tested at Bombardier's facilities in Mirabel, Quebec, and Wichita, Kansas. In an ambitious push into the competitive commercial jet market, the CSeries will compete with smaller offerings from Boeing and Airbus, as well as Embraer.

Testing was halted in May after an on-ground engine problem, but resumed in September. Testing has been plagued by delays and rising costs, worrying investors. One of the CSeries test planes went to Bombardier's regional sales office in Dallas in October. It also visited Republic Airways, which has a firm order for the CSeries, in Indianapolis. Delabarrera said some customers went to Dallas to see the plane, and others have visited Mirabel.

(Reuters)

Bombardier could design and build passenger jets in China as an extension of a two-year-old development and sales deal with the country's main plane maker COMAC. When the first phases of the 2012 agreement with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) are complete, it may be natural to "do something more", Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier's commercial aircraft division told Reuters news agency. That could step up competition with Airbus and Boeing.

"We are thinking long-term in China. One day we might decide to do a project together, a joint venture... Right now, we are only talking about collaboration," he said. Bombardier is currently working with COMAC to develop common systems for both its own 150-seat CSeries and the Chinese firm's C919. The pair are working on cockpit and electrical systems, as well as the supply chain for the CSeries and the C919.

Behind schedule but due to be the first Chinese-built single-aisle commercial aircraft, the C919 will join the CSeries in competing with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, in different market segments. "The CSeries is smaller than the C919, they really do not compete head to head. There is always going to be some small overlap, but generally they are more complementary as a fleet mix," said Andy Solem, Bombardier's vice-president for sales in North Asia.

Bombardier has 243 firm orders for the CSeries, which can also take up to 180 passengers in a high-density variant aimed primarily at low-cost carriers. COMAC has orders for 430 C919s, mostly from domestic firms, though its first test flight has now been pushed back to 2015. Development of the Canadian firm's CSeries has run into numerous delays and rising costs, with flight testing only resuming in September after an on-ground engine fire halted test in May. The company hopes to deliver the first aircraft in the second half of 2015. Bombardier, which manufactures the CRJ series of regional jets, is also advising COMAC on its long-delayed ARJ-21 regional aircraft, stuck in the flight-test phase.

(Reuters)

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has delivered Air Côte d’Ivoire’s first two Q400 NextGen turboprops and the aircraft will be showcased on Saturday, November 15 during an inauguration event in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The purchase agreement between Bombardier and Abidjan-based Air Côte d’Ivoire, which covers two firm-ordered Q400 NextGen aircraft plus two options, was announced on December 18, 2013. Air Côte d’Ivoire is the national airline of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.

A video from Bombardier on the Flight Test Vehicle 1 CS100

Bombardier will be at this year's edition of the MEBA starting on the 8th of December.

Bombardier Business Aircraft today announced the recent addition of Arabasco as an Authorized Service Facility (ASF) for Challenger 605 aircraft customers based in or flying to Saudi Arabia. Under the ASF agreement, Arabasco will offer Bombardier Business Aircraft customers a full range of maintenance services from its 2,921 square meter (approximately 31,446 square feet) maintenance facility located at the Private Aviation Terminal of King Abdul-Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The facility, which has been providing maintenance on business aircraft for 32 years, is certified by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands and employs over 40 people.