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Bombardier assures CSeries on track

TORONTO - Canada’s Bombardier expects no more delays to its C$3.4 billion ($3.30 billion) CSeries jetliner programme, the plane maker’s challenge to industry leaders Airbus and Boeing, a senior executive said.

“This is a done-deal programme,” Mike Arcamone, president of the Montreal plane maker’s commercial aircraft division, told Reuters in an interview.

“If I look at our competition, I’m at least a year and a half ahead. We’re nowhere announcing any delay. And that’s something new for the aviation industry.”

The aviation industry has been plagued by production delays that have often lasted years, with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner the most notable recent example. Bombardier delayed the CSeries’ maiden flight by six months last November due to supplier problems.

The CSeries touts cutting-edge technology that makes it more fuel efficient and offers lower operating costs than its closest competitor. But many buyers are holding back.

Arcamone said the aircraft will have its maiden flight by the end of the month and enter service a year from now.

Bombardier last Wednesday confirmed a firm order from Ilyushin Finance that brought the firm order book to 177, more than halfway to its 300-order target for mid-2014.

Arcamone said that demonstrated customer confidence in the plane and its development program.

Executives have hinted that more announcements will come at the June 17-23 Paris Air Show, including details of a previously undisclosed customer for the 110-seat version of the CSeries.

“I can tell you that Paris will be an exciting time for us,” Arcamone said.

The single-aisle CSeries family is Bombardier’s largest plane to date.