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Bombardier executives are headed to Hyderabad Airport for the inaugural India Aviation 2008 exhibition, which gets kicked off on 15 October.

The event, organized by India's Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, is being billed as "the first international exhibition of its kind in India on civil aviation sector".

But that's not stopping Bombardier from flogging its business jet portfolio. While the airframer is bringing a CRJ900 NextGen commercial jet for static display, it will also showcase its Learjet 60 XR, Challenger 605 and Global Express XRS business jets.

What about the CSeries cabin mockup? Will it be on display? I know I was quizzical in June when Bombardier opted not to showcase the CSeries mockup at Turkey's AIREX. At that time, a Bombardier spokesman told me it was "too heavy and expensive" to lug to AIREX.

The CSeries mockup is not mentioned in Bombardier's press release about the show, although Bombardier Commercial Aircraft VP sales for the Asia-Pacific market Trung Ngo suggests the 110/130-seater is ideally suited for longer routes in the Indian market.

It seems to me that India would be a good place to bring the mock-up, no? As the SBAC points out, in a statement to promote the event, the Indian civil aviation market has been experiencing a boon. "Until recently only two private airlines - Jet Airways and Air Sahara offered competition to national carriers, but in the last few years, a large number of private airlines such as Air Deccan, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air, Paramount, Indigo etc. have entered the domestic market," notes the SBAC.

"With air travel becoming a popular and cheaper option, the civil aviation sector is experiencing fast growth.  During 2006-07, total passenger traffic grew at 27.2% while the cargo traffic grew by 11.2%. The aircraft movement increased by 27.5% during the year.  The domestic air traffic is expected to grow up to 180 million and international traffic to 50 million passengers by 2020."

No doubt Bombardier will have some cabin pics to show attendees, perhaps from its newly-released CSeries promotional DVD (which I picked up at the Boyd conference). See some of the best snaps below.

In a society where being thin is the gold standard, it is understandable that folks become a little miffed when told they have a wide body. But in the world of aviation, the term "widebody" is considered venerable indeed. That's why it should come as no surprise to any of us that Bombardier is touting its new 110/130-seat CSeries narrowbody as a widebody for the simple fact that the aircraft is larger than any model within its current portfolio.

That is, at least, what Aviation Week senior editor Darren Shannon was told last week by Parker Aerospace, which has won a big contract to develop a generic fly-by-wire system for "all new Bombardier widebody aircraft requiring this technology", including the CSeries.

But apart from the CSeries, what other platforms are involved?  And will the fly-by-wire system be available as a new feature on existing aircraft coming off the production line such as the Global Express, Challenger or CRJs, or are the other aircraft included in the Parker contract new, clean-sheet aircraft designs under consideration at Bombardier?

You can be sure Flight editors are working feverishly for a sensible answer (this particular one happens to be on vacation this week). But keep an eye on this space for an update. And in the meantime, check out why narrow is for the birds.

We haven't discussed air taxi operators of very light jets (VLJs) here on Runway Girl, but perhaps it's about time we did so. Because while a small fleet of Eclipse 500s might not make much of a dent in the world of commercial travel, a fleet of several hundred running with fast and furious frequency certainly will. And that, my friend, is not a far off proposition.

Linear Air, for example, currently flies four Eclipse 500s but intends to operate 300 of type within the next two to three years. The company, which operates from Hanscombe Field near Boston and Westchester County airport near New York, has not been deterred by the 5 June emergency landing in Chicago that prompted federal regulators to order an immediate inspection of throttles on all Eclipse 500s.

Its expansion plan also remains on track, even as the Eclipse 500 faces further scrutiny. Prominent US congressman James Oberstar has asked the US DOT's Office of Inspector General to investigate allegations that the FAA certificated the Eclipse 500 very light jet in 2006 despite objections from the agency's aircraft certification engineers and flight-test pilots.

Responding to Oberstar's move, Linear stresses the following: All Linear Air planes are inspected regularly; if any issues arise they are promptly taken care of and any changes that need to be made to the pilot's manual are done; and if an issue was to arise it would be promptly reported to the FAA and Eclipse.

Additionally, Linear Air stands by the comments made by Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn, who denies any wrongdoing by his company and told USA Today that Eclipse is in "complete and total conformity" with federal regulations. Raburn feels that the complaint is an internal FAA matter between workers and administrators, notes the article highlighted above.

Linear recently closed a $3.5 million round of equity financing. Proceeds from this round will support the company's continued growth of the Eclipse 500 jet service launched in November 2007 as well as expansion of service in the Northeast.

"In these days of spiking fuel cost, our Eclipse jets are by far the most economical business jets available. Our plan is to continue to grow our fleet and replicate this success on a national level," says Linear president and CEO William Herp.

So why fly Linear? Here are the company's top ten answers to that question.

Top 10 Reasons to Fly Private

1. When flying private, travellers avoid spending the 53 percent of overall travel time that is spent just waiting in major airports for a flight. This includes check-in, security lines and flight delays.

2. Flying private reduces trip time to destinations by approximately 3.5 hours.

3. Leave on time and arrive on time - specified by the traveller - with private air.
Commercial travellers suffer from late departures more than a quarter of the time and late arrivals almost a third of the time.

4. Flights can be booked according to the traveller's schedule, creating efficiencies that eliminate unnecessary overnight stays, long commutes from major airports to final destinations and unexpected cancellations.

5. Private air charters can go into 10-times more airports than commercial flights. By utilizing regional airports, air travel needs can be met from convenient locations, closer to homes and offices.

6. The well -appointed cabins on private jets are more conducive to meetings and add to business travellers' levels of productivity.

7. The average age of a commercial plane is more than 25 years old. On the whole, private planes are newer and more eco-friendly.

8. Luggage is loaded directly onto the aircraft, in view of the traveller, unlike the hundreds of thousands of mishandled and lost bags in commercial airports.

9. The average light jet flight is only 90 minutes, getting travellers from point-to-point efficiently.

10. Leisure travellers can get to weekend destinations quicker and avoid getting stuck in weekend traffic.

If you ask me, something seems to be missing from Bombardier Aerospace's showcase at the AIREX 2008 exhibition being held in Istanbul, Turkey. The Canadian airframer has five aircraft on static display - its Learjet 60 XR, Challenger 300 jet, Challenger 605 jet, Global Express XRS aircraft and a CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. But there is nary a CSeries cabin mockup in sight. Why? I should think that AIREX would make a good platform to flog the CSeries to Middle Eastern operators, a region being targeted by Bombardier for the proposed 110/130-seat aircraft.

During a recent interview, Bombardier Aerospace's director, programme managment office and director of marketing, Benjamin Boehm said the CSeries is being evaluated by Middle Eastern airlines for a possible role in providing feeder services. "We're finding that areas such as the Middle East - they are starting the whole hub-and-spoke phenomenon there," he said.

And in a statement today, Bombardier touts its growing presence in the region "as major airlines adapt their operations with more cost-efficient regional aircraft to feed their larger mainline aircraft networks".

Qatar Airways is rumoured to be one of several carriers that will launch the CSeries at the Farnborough air show.

Okay, so where is the much-travelled mock-up? A Bombardier spokesman tells me it was "too heavy and expensive" to lug to AIREX. "Next step: Farnborough, and no this does not confirm anything," he says. Well thank you kindly.