Business

Bombardier firms up order for 45 CSeries planes

Bombardier showed off a completed CSeries 300 aircraft in Belfast last year
Bombardier showed off a completed CSeries 300 aircraft in Belfast last year Bombardier showed off a completed CSeries 300 aircraft in Belfast last year

BOMBARDIER has announced it has finalised a firm order for 45 of its CSeries 300 Aircraft by Air Canada.

The deal - which could be worth up to $6.3 billion (£4.7bn) - also includes options for an additional 30 of the planes, the wings of which are made in Belfast.

Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare said he was, "pleased to officially welcome Air Canada to our CS300 family of operators as one of our largest customers and early adopters.

“As an innovative operator, admired for successfully reinventing itself and, like Bombardier based in Québec, Air Canada and the C Series aircraft are a perfect match.

“This order is a major statement of support for Canada’s aerospace industry and will help support thousands of C Series related jobs,” Mr. Bellemare continued. “It also serves as an important catalyst for renewed interest and subsequent orders.”

Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu added: "Over the past few years, we’ve been making transformative moves to boost our competitiveness and customer satisfaction to better position us for growth and continued success. Finalising the CS300 order is a key element to Air Canada’s strategy to build one of the world’s youngest and most fuel efficient fleets.

“This order also will help establish a Centre of Excellence for C Series maintenance work in Québec. Following a rigorous evaluation of its capabilities, we’re confident that the C Series aircraft’s superior range, economics and seating capacity will provide a stellar passenger experience and contribute significantly to our development plans to expand our network and increase point-to-point service to Canadian and transborder markets.”

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2019 and extend to 2022. At list price, the firm order for 45 CS300 aircraft is valued at approximately $3.8bn (£2.8bn). This amount would increase to $6.3bn (£4.7bn) should Air Canada exercise all 30 option aircraft.

“We are proud to have Air Canada, one of the world’s most respected airlines, as a C Series customer and look forward to building upon our long-standing partnership,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

“Finalising this order ensures the strong momentum we’ve achieved with the C Series continues and further highlights the tremendous value the aircraft provides to our airline customers.”