A Bombardier executive has confirmed - in a roundabout way - that it is on target to land a third customer for its CSeries small mainline jet in the form of a letter of intent from lessor Hong Kong Aviation.

In August the leasing company's chairman Stewart Smith revealed that it had "initiated discussions with Bombardier" over a CSeries order with a plan to sign for 10 aircraft in the autumn.

When asked during this week's Commercial Aviation Online Inside Air Finance conference about the status of negotiations, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft's vice-president sales Asia-Pacific Trung Ngo said: "We won't comment on any LOI at Bombardier, but Hong Kong Aviation wanted to make that publicity. We are pleased that Hong Kong Aviation evaluated us."

Bombardier launched the CSeries in March with an order from Lufthansa for up to 60 aircraft, and has subsequently signed a deal with lessor LCI for up to 40 aircraft.

Source: Flight Daily News