May 23 2013
Garuda Indonesia is planning to operate three Bombardier CRJ 1000 NextGen aircraft from a new western hub in Kuala Namu. The airline plans to develop Kuala Namu as the fourth Garuda hub after Denpasar, Jakarta and Makassar.
The three aircraft are part of a 24 aircraft order the airline has with Bombardier.
May 16 2013
Rumours and indications are rampant that easyJet may announce an order for CSeries aircraft from Bombardier at the Paris air show in June 2013.
In a teleconference call after quarterly results, easyJet chief executive officer Carolyn McCall said that the airline plans to make future orders with either Airbus or Boeing and also Bombardier. Bombardier confirmed that they were in negotiations with easyJet, but no details of those talks were commented on.
The Cseries first flight is due by the end of June 2013 although the exact date is unclear. The CSeries will not appear at the Paris Air Show but rumors are that arrangements have been made to broadcast the event live at the show.
Air Canada is also preparing to ask for proposals to replace more than 100 narrow body aircraft this year with the CSeries being a candidate for the role.
May 09 2013
Bombardier announced during a shareholder’s meeting on May 9th, 2013, that the planned goal of the first light for the CSeries program is still set for June 2013.
Bombardier had 145 firm orders as of March 31, 2013, but announced that an undisclosed buyer cancelled its order for CSeries aircraft “due to financial difficulties of the customer,” The unnamed customer also had options for three aircraft.
Bombardier is targeting 300 firm orders by the time the CSeries enters commercial service in mid-2014 and expects the aircraft to almost double annual revenue in the next decade for the company.
Bombardier’s profit in the three months of 2013 rose to $156 million from $150 million in the same period of 2012. Revenue rose 25 percent to $4.34 billion, which exceeded estimates of $4.16 billion.
Bombardier delivered 53 planes in the first quarter of 2013, 43 percent more than the first quarter of 2012, including 39 business aircraft, up from 29.
Bombardier confirmed its target for 2013 aircraft deliveries would be 245 from 233 in 2012. The forecast includes 190 business aircraft and 55 regional aircraft.
May 07 2013
Mitsubishi Aircraft indicated that the company remains on schedule to fly the first MRJ90 during the fourth quarter of 2013.
However in spite of the program reaching important milestones, Mitsubishi also confirmed that it had lost a memorandum of understanding from ANI Leasing of Hong Kong for five MRJ aircraft. The MRJ’s launch customer, All Nippon Airways, still expects to take first delivery of the MRJ by the end of 2015 or early 2016.
Mitsubishi also confirmed that it plans to deliver the first MRJ90 to Trans States Airlines in 2016 and to SkyWest in 2017. Both airlines hold orders for 92-seat MRJ90s and hold options on the 76-seat MRJ70.