In what is the largest commercial aircraft order of 2009, Lufthansa firmed up an order for 30 CSeries aircraft plus 30 additional options for subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines.Bombardier's first firm CSeries order comes after Lufthansa signed a letter of interest in July 2008 (live blog) at the Farnborough Air Show. Even though Lufthansa is the first airline to place a firm order for the CSeries, Swiss will not serve as the aircraft type's first operator.
The 110-seat CS100 aircraft will replace 20 Swiss BAe Avro RJ-100ER aircraft beginning in 2014 and configured with 115 seats. Entry into service of the CS100, which is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1000G engines, is scheduled for 2013. The engine selection was first announced on this blog at the Dubai Air Show in November 2007.
The order marks a bright spot in an otherwise troubled 2009 commercial aerospace market that has seen continued cuts in capacity, falling passenger and cargo traffic, as well as numerous aircraft order cancellations and deferrals.
The boost for the program comes a day after Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said, "[A CSeries order is in the freezer because we require certain conditions from Bombardier
for us to consider the aircraft, for which they are not capitulating.
So I think we'll have to forget about it if [Bombardier does] not respond."Al Baker adds that his concerns cover "the whole deal", including both price and specifications of the aircraft. "If they oblige, maybe we will reconsider our decision," he adds.
Qatar Airways is interested in purchasing the 130-seat CS300 aircraft, the second CSeries variant, for regional operations out of its Doha hub.
The next step for Bombardier will be to sign a firm 2013 launch customer. Mongolian regional airline Eznis is currently the only other customer to have signed a letter of interest with Bombardier for seven CSeries aircraft.
The carrier has said it plans to firm the order in 2010.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Bombardier announced the re-designation of the twin CSeries variants. The 110-seat C110 has been re-branded the CS100 and the 130-seat C130 is now the CS300. The change is likely geared toward avoiding confusion with the C-130 Hercules, a multi-role military cargo aircraft.
on March 11, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply
Bombardier really need to seriously consider expanding the C-Series to cover the 110 to 190 seat market. This is the meat-and-potatoes for narrow bodies. They could steal a march on Boeing and Airbus while those two companies are preoccupied with their wide body programs. A third player in the narrow body market would be a welcome addition. The timing for Bombardier to make this move will never be better.
on March 13, 2009 12:01 AM | Reply
if the bombardier cs100/300 pushes through given the bad economic climate, it will have maybe a 7 year headstart over airbus and boeing competiting airliner
queation is can they at least breakeven during this period
airbus and boeing may
1. refresh 737 and 320
2. massive 737 and 320 discounts
however, the cs is on the bottom of these airliners model range that are not selling good
the cs100/300 better do good on this capacity range
then maybe a stretched new generation cs to compete a bit with the new airbus boeing single aisle
bottomline - if the cs100/300 reaches regular airliner service it will be a success