Bombardier Confident Jet Markets will Stay Strong

By Anthony Duignan-Cabrera, Special to Aviation.com

posted: 07 May 2008 02:32 pm ET

: Bombardier sees its planned new CSeries 110-to-130-seat twinjet airliner as being a 'game changer' in the commercial narrowbody jet business. Extensive use of lightweight new materials in its construction and the pairing of airframe and the new Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan engine will make the CSeries very quiet and very fuel-efficient, says Bombardier. Credit: Bombardier Aerospace

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — While the commercial aerospace sector convulses under skyrocketing fuel costs and overall economic turmoil impacting international markets, Bombardier Aerospace is confident its long-term growth strategy is on target.

Betting on the continued strength of the Euro as well as emerging markets like China and India, the Canada-based company believes it is positioned for success in both the business and commercial aircraft markets. Executives presented their case here Wednesday at Bombardier’s pre-Farnborough media briefing.

Mairead Lavery, vice president of Strategy & Business Development, offered details of Bombardier’s latest market forecasts, which predict that both the commercial-aircraft and business-jet markets will continue to expand. Bombardier expects increased airline travel and airplane capacity, as well as the retirement and replacement of older fleets, to be crucial to the growth of its commercial-aircraft business, said Lavery.

The company’s projections — 13,200 business-jet deliveries industry-wide over the next 10 years, totaling $300 billion; and 12,900 deliveries of commercial aircraft in the 20-to-149-seat market, worth $528 billion over 20 years — look optimistic in light of current economic insecurities. But the company believes emerging markets for business aircraft, as well as its new CSeries commercial jet, which it views as a “game changer” in the industry, will drive success.

The CSeries will be offered in two sizes, the 110-seat CSeries 110 and the 130-seat CSeries 130. Both would be powered by Pratt & Whitney's new Geared Turbofan engine.

Bombardier expects the CSeries to emit 23 percent less carbon dioxide than today's new 100-seat-plus jets and 50 percent less CO2 than older, similarly sized jets. Additionally, the manufacturer expects the CSeries jets to be quieter than all existing 100-plus-seat jets, claiming the CSeries 110 will be on average 21 decibels below FAA/ICAO Stage IV noise limits at critical noise-measurement points and the CSeries 130 20 decibels below. The CSeries is specifically designed for the lower end of the 100-to-149-seat commercial jet market.

“We added a lot of new materials on this aircraft,” said Gary R. Scott, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “It’s 70 percent new materials, which reduce weight and maintenance. It has a 20 percent fuel advantage of any aircraft in production today. It actually has a little better than 20 percent.”

Bombardier’s business-jet lines — Learjet, Challenger and Global — are all set to see improvements in technology as well as operational changes to make each business more competitive and cost-efficient. But most important for Bombardier is market growth beyond its traditional base.

“The market for a long time was U.S.-centric, and what we have seen is the spreading of business aviation to Europe and starting in Asia and the rest of the world,” said Steve Ridolfi, head of Bombardier’s business aircraft division. “It will be a global industry.”

For Bombardier Aerospace, 2007 was a record year in terms of business-aircraft revenue growth.

A combination of the surge in international orders, the growth in the number of “high net worth individuals” from the Middle East, Latin America and Asia and an industry-wide order backlog of almost three years looks set to sustain the market for Bombardier’s business aircraft.

“The order intake surprised us as well as the marketplace,” Ridolfi said. “Our supply-side capacity is limited. That is the challenge for Bombardier and our competitors in this market. It’s very much on the top of our mind.”