During the handover of a new 737-800 in Seattle to Lion Air, questions were asked of the airline’s president about their possible agreement with Bombardier to order up to 50 CSeries aircraft.
His comments placed doubt on the imminent completion of a deal as he noted that there would be no early decision on a firm order, despite the potential the airline sees in the CSeries. Commenting in Seattle, where Lion Air was marking the handover of its 100th Next Generation 737, it was stated that Lion Air was interested in “up to 50 minimum” of the CS300, but that no firm decision was likely before the end of 2013 and did not place any expectations of when that decision might be made.
The airline in September said it was considering a “double-digit” order for the aircraft and commented that a decision could come as soon as the end of this year. However, now the airline has indicated that their decision will be based on the results of the CSeries flight test program which is currently underway. Flight tests of the CS300 are expected to begin early in 2014.
It was also stated in the president’s comments that the airline’s requirement is not “urgent” and the airline can wait for Bombardier to prove the CSeries is as good an aircraft as they are expecting it to be.
