Air Canada and Bombardier Finalize Landmark C Series Order for up to 75 Aircraft

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft and Air Canada announced today that they have finalized a firm purchase agreement consistent with the Letter of Intent (LOI) announced in February 2016. The purchase agreement includes a firm order for 45 CS300 aircraft and options for an additional 30 CS300 aircraft.

“I’m pleased to officially welcome Air Canada to our CS300 family of operators as one of our largest customers and early adopters,” said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. “As an innovative operator, admired for successfully reinventing itself and, like Bombardier based in Québec, Air Canada and the C Series aircraft are a perfect match.

“This order is a major statement of support for Canada’s aerospace industry and will help support thousands of C Series related jobs,” Mr. Bellemare continued. “It also serves as an important catalyst for renewed interest and subsequent orders.”

“Over the past few years, we’ve been making transformative moves to boost our competitiveness and customer satisfaction to better position us for growth and continued success.  Finalizing the CS300 order is a key element to Air Canada’s strategy to build one of the world’s youngest and most fuel efficient fleets,” said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada. “This order also will help establish a Centre of Excellence for C Series maintenance work in Québec. Following a rigorous evaluation of its capabilities, we’re confident that the C Series aircraft’s superior range, economics and seating capacity will provide a stellar passenger experience and contribute significantly to our development plans to expand our network and increase point-to-point service to Canadian and transborder markets.”

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2019 and extend to 2022. At list price, the firm order for 45 CS300 aircraft is valued at approximately $US 3.8 billion. This amount would increase to $US 6.3 billion should Air Canada exercise all 30 option aircraft. 

“We are proud to have Air Canada, one of the world’s most respected airlines, as a C Series customer and look forward to building upon our long-standing partnership,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “Finalizing this order ensures the strong momentum we’ve achieved with the C Series continues and further highlights the tremendous value the aircraft provides to our airline customers.”