Bombardier says that the CSeries will still be more efficient than an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737NG with new generation engines.
Speaking at the US Regional Airline Association conference in Milwaukee, Bombardier’s VP marketing for commercial aircraft Phillippe Poutissou said that even if Boeing and Airbus adopted the PW1000G or CFM LEAP-X engines for their narrowbodies that they would not allow them to gain a 15 per cent cash operating cost improvement which is claimed for the CSeries, and that other changes to the wing and airframe would be required. “The only way to achieve a step-change in economics is to look at the entire package and the engine is only 50 per cent of the package.”
Other Bombardier executives have noted that Airbus’s planned NEO (new engine option) for the A320 appears to be aimed more at increasing the range of the A321, which is significantly larger than the 110-130 seat CSeries aircraft.
Poutissou’s comments run counter to assertions last year from Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker that a re-engined A320 would “kill” the CSeries. Nevertheless, Qatar is understood to be in serious talks with both Airbus and Bombardier to order both a re-engined A320 and the CSeries.
