First customer Cseries aircraft near completion

The finishing touches are being applied on the final assembly line for the first ever CSeries CS300 designed for Air Baltic near Montreal at a plant in Mirabel. Concurrently, the first aircraft for the CS100 launch for manufacturer Swiss Pattern Corp is being prepped for its first flight in Mirabel as well. The CS100 is scheduled for six flights a day in SWISS service to work out the kinks with the first of the CS100, aircraft P1 to begin rout-proving flights with SWISS providing ground support. The P1 is flown by bombardier pilots and is currently flying back and forth from Brussels to Hannover and has completed three-fourths of its 600-hour extended functionality and reliability testing phase. This testing phase will need to be completed before the P1 can enter into service (EIS). There have been hang-ups but no dispatch interruptions thus far. Meanwhile the FTV7 which is the first of 2 CS00 flight-test aircrafts, is hovering around the 500-hour mark in terms of testing.

The second of the 2 CS flight-test aircrafts has an interior and is on track for certification six months after the CS100 who received its Transport Canada Approval in December of last year. With 9 CSeries having been built, Bombardier is on track to deliver 15-20 CSeries this year to air Batlic, SWISS and other operators who have placed an order for it in the past years. The CS100 can comfortably seat 100-133 passengers while the longer Bombardier CS300 can accommodate up to 160 but is typically specified with 148 seats single-class and 137 for dual.