Chinese Airlines To Buy 50 CSeries Jets From Bombardier

July 8, 2008 1:25 p.m. EST

Beijing, China (AHN) - Two Chinese airlines are buying 50 CSeries jet planes from Canadian jet maker Bombardier to boost aircraft fleet and in response to a growing tourism industry especially with the onset of the Summer Olympiad in Beijing.

Buyers Shanghai Airlines Co. and China Southern Airlines Co. are scheduled to meet with officials of the Civil Aviation Administration of China on July 14 to get approval for the acquisition of the airplanes.

Bombardier, on the other hand, is expected to decide this year whether to start the assembly of the CSeries jets. The aircraft, Bomabardier's largest model to date, has a 110 to 130 seating capacity and is reportedly fuel efficient.

Shipment of orders will start in 2013, competing head-on with Brazil's Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, maker of the Embraer regional jet.

The Chinese carriers is an addition to Bombardier's first batch of CSeries customers, which include IFLC, Qatar Airlines and Lufthansa.