Transport Canada has issued type certification for Bombardier’s CSeries airliner. Transport Minister Marc Garneau made the announcement last week at Bombardier’s Montreal-area facility. The CSeries is the first clean-sheet single-aisle airliner to be certified in at least 20 years and Bombardier is pinning its future on the fuel-efficient, fly-by-wire jet. The aircraft certified last week is the CS100, the 100-seat version of the aircraft. EASA and FAA certification is expected shortly. The CS300, a 160-seat version, is expected to get certification in about six months. The company said Monday it will be aggressively marketing the aircraft now that it has certification and is looking for another marquee customer to get sales rolling.
The launch customer for the aircraft is the Swiss Air subsidiary of Lufthansa and it will begin flying the aircraft as a replacement for its RJ85 fleet in early 2016. Bombardier has 243 confirmed orders for a mix of both sizes of the aircraft but needs more to break even on the program. The development costs ballooned to more than $5 billion and caused an incipient cash crisis at the company. Last month two Quebec agencies provided bailouts totaling $2.5 billion, which will give Bombardier the breathing room it needs to finish the program.
