Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, which along with Brazil’s Embraer, has dominated the market for 100-seat and under regional jets for years, has completed the first successful test flight of its CS300, a plane that can be configured for 130-160 seats.
Despite the company’s pride, the future is murky. It’s a stretch version of the company’s CS100, a hundred-seater that’s at least two years behind and has had testing issues; it may deliver near the end of this year with the 300 about 6 months behind.
But the biggest problem may not be the plane itself, but finding a real market for it, since it’s a new entry in a size class dominated for years by the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A319. No one but Bombardier is sure there’s room fora third producer.
From USA Today, MORE
Bombardier photo
