SINGAPORE -- Bombardier's board has authorized the company to offer its 110-130 seat CSeries family aircraft to potential customers.

Top launch customer candidates include Northwest Airlines, Qatar Airways, ILFC and Lufthansa.

The authority to offer is an important step towards official launch of the aircraft program.

FlightBlogger spoke with Bombardier representatives this morning, and at the time the Canadian company refused to speculate on a report suggesting the board was just hours away from making its decision to authorize the company to offer the new family of aircraft.

The company has said it will seek firm commitments from customers before seeking launch approval.

Filed Wirelessly

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