Bombardier plane competes with 737, A320
Published 10:58 pm Sunday, July 13, 2008
FARNBOROUGH, England — Canadian planemaker Bombardier Inc. issued a challenge to bigger rivals Boeing Co. and Airbus with the launch a new aircraft range on Sunday.
The C-series aircraft will carry 110-145 passengers and is designed to compete against the aging Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 jets — as well as the 98-114 seat ERJ 190 by Brazilian jetmaker Embraer, or Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA.
Bombardier’s largest plane currently flying, the CRJ-900, has a maximum of 88 seats.
German airline Lufthansa said it provisionally had ordered 30 aircraft with an option of buying 30 more.
Montreal-based Bombardier, the world’s third-largest civilian plane manufacturer, said the aircraft would enter service in 2013, and each would cost $46.7 million at list price. Airlines, particularly at the launch of a new aircraft, usually negotiate substantial discounts to catalog prices.
