Lion Air could buy Bombardier CSeries
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Lion Air is considering placing an order for Bombardier’s new CSeries aircraft, the Indonesian carrier’s CEO has revealed.
Speaking this week, Rusdi Kirana said that Jakarta-based Lion is mulling an order for the larger version of the brand new CSeries – the CS300 aircraft – and could make an announcement at next year’s Farnborough Air Show.
The potential size of the order was not revealed, but Lion has hit the headlines in recent years, buying huge quantities of aircraft to drive its domestic and international expansion. In 2011 it placed an order for 230 Boeing 737 aircraft, then followed it up in March this year with an even bigger deal for 234 Airbus A320s.
The Bombardier CS300, which is yet to make its first flight, would rival these single-aisle jets, offering single-class seating for up to 160 passengers. And Kirana said the new aircraft represented a “big quantum leap” for Canada’s Bombardier, which previously made smaller regional jets.
“Usually what they make is quite normal aircraft, but this one is very special,” Kirana was quoted saying by Bloomberg, following a tour of Bombardier’s factory.
Bombardier will produce two versions of its CSeries aircraft – the CS100, which seats up to 125 passengers, and the larger CS300, which can carry up to 160. The first ever CS100 test aircraft made its first flight earlier this month, following several delays. But Bombardier says the smaller aircraft is still on track to enter service in mid-2014, with the CS300 set to follow by the end of next year.
So far Bombardier has taken orders for 177 CSeries aircraft – 63 CS100s and 114 CS300s – with customers including Korean Air, Gulf Air and Lufthansa.
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