Canada’s Bombardier has said its new CSeries passenger jet was in good shape to make its crucial maiden flight by the end of June, Reuters has reported. The manufacturer is preparing to unveil orders for the more fuel efficient jet at the Paris air show.
The countdown coincides with preparations for the first flight of the larger Airbus A350, on which engine tests have already started. The CSeries and A350 both have a carbon-composite body to make them lighter and more fuel efficient like the Boeing 787.
Chet Fuller, senior commercial vice president at Bombardier, reportedly said the company expects the airplane to do well in the Africa market.
A start-up airline called Odyssey bought 10 of the planes in 2011 and intended to start non-stop all-business class flights from London to New York using the jets.
Till date, Bombardier has sold 145 CSeries. Fuller said sales of the CSeries had suffered from the industry’s worsening reputation for delays in new projects after problems at both Airbus and Boeing but was confident that the first flight and next year’s entry to service would give sales a boost.
He said the CS300, the larger of two CSeries models, would be at least 10% cheaper per seat and 15% cheaper in total flight costs to operate than the Airbus A319neo, a revamped version of the model the CSeries was designed to compete with.
Compared with the new Airbus best-seller, the revamped A320neo, he said the CS300 would have 25% lower trip costs and offer similar costs per seat.
