Canadian planemaker Bombardier says CS100 aircraft testing almost 100% complete

Canadian planemaker Bombardier announced at the Dubai Airshow on Sunday that the flight testing programme for its CS100 aircraft is almost 100 per cent complete.

Only a few tests remain to be completed and Bombardier is on track to have the aircraft certified this year with Transport Canada, it confirmed in a statement.

“The success of this historic C Series aircraft test programme is a testament to the hard work and dedication from the teams that designed, developed, built and tested the C Series aircraft over the last few years,” said Bombardier commercial aircraft president Fred Cromer.

“We’re proud to be moving into the entry-in-service and production phase as we look to deliver the aircraft in the first half of 2016 to SWISS – a customer that has been with the programme from the beginning.”

Bombardier also announced that function and reliability testing on the C Series aircraft began with a four-leg flight on Saturday by the CS100 F&R test aircraft.

The first F&R flight, which started and ended in Mirabel, Québec, included stops in Moncton, New Brunswick, Halifax, Nova Scotia and St-John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The F&R test flights, which will be conducted using typical airline flight routings and operational procedures, are scheduled to include approximately 15 city pairs in Canada and 20 in the United States. They will then take place in Europe, the company said.

C Series aircraft programme vice president Rob Dewar said: “Following more than 1,000 flights conducted by the C Series flight test vehicles, the F&R flights will give a really good indication of how the C Series aircraft will perform in a typical airline schedule to and from different airports in Canada and the US.

“Airfield performance, landings, airport turnarounds and on-ground operations are just some of the important characteristics that will be observed during the F&R testing.”

Bombardier’s C Series family of aircraft (which also includes the CS300) represents an all-new design targeting the 100-to-150-seat market segment. The company claims this will offer operators potential savings of between $7.5m to $12m per aircraft. The C Series aircraft’s maximum range has also been confirmed to be up to 6,112 km.

Bombardier has booked orders and commitments for 603 C Series aircraft, including firm orders for 243.

Regionally, its customers include Gulf Air, private aviation company Falcon Aviation Services, Iraqi Airways and new carrier SaudiGulf.