Bombardier announced on April 10th, 2013 that Porter Airlines has signed a conditional purchase agreement for 12 CS100 aircraft, with options on an additional 18 aircraft. The airline also took purchase rights on six Q400 NextGen aircraft. It was also revealed that Porter Airlines was the unidentified, Americas-based customer that signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for CS100 aircraft in December 2012.
A firm-order contract would be worth approximately $870 million US and could increase to $2.08 billion US should the 18 options also be converted to firm orders. If Porter also exercises the six purchase rights for the Q400 NextGen aircraft, the contract value would increase to $2.29 billion US.
The first CSeries flight test vehicle is progressing towards the flight test phase following the completion of the full powering up of the main electrical distribution system in March 2013. Systems installations are being completed on FTV2; the wings are being mated on FTV3; and the fuselage on FTV4 has entered into the assembly stage – all of which are advancing to schedule.
As of December 31, 2012, Bombardier had orders and commitments for 382 CSeries aircraft, which included firm orders for 148 CSeries aircraft.
