Page 48 - AA 2018_09

s senior Airbus executives life. Bombardier spent more than government investment arm, around
awaited the arrival of US$6 billion – US$2 billion over 16 per cent.
their latest single-aisle budget – to develop the C Series after Although Airbus essentially gained
jet at Toulouse-Blagnac launching it in 2008. By late 2015 control of the C Series program
Airport in France on July it was forced to turn to the Quebec without spending a cent, the cost of
10, gathered aviation Government for a US$1 billion bailout rejuvenating the fortunes of an aircraft
Amedia from around the to keep the program alive. that has sold poorly likely will be
world were aware it was formerly the Airbus arrived on the scene significant.
made-in-Canada Bombardier C Series last year as a White Knight, with a At the time Toulouse took the reins,
regional jet. What it would be re- deal formalised on July 1 this year. the C Series had total sales of 402 with
christened was anybody’s guess. There Under the agreement a new entity, only 38 aircraft in service (deliveries
was, however, no doubt about Airbus’s CSALP (C Series Aircraft Limited began in early 2017) and a backlog of
new-found enthusiasm for a plane Partnership) was formed, with Airbus 364. The production line at Mirabel
that fits into a sector – the regional The newly-revealed Airbus A220 owning 50.01 per cent, Bombardier near Quebec is designed to deliver 120
jet market – it has, along with rival lands at Toulouse Airport for the holding approximately 34 per cent jets annually, a target that is nowhere
Boeing, essentially ignored for years. first time. airbus and Investissement Quebec, the near being reached. Additionally, a
“I need to sell the aircraft and that
is my job under the leadership of
Airbus chief commercial officer Eric
Schultz,” declared David Dufrenois,
Head of Sales for the new offering, at a
pre-arrival press conference.
“I can tell you already we have
mobilised all our global sales
worldwide and the feedback we have
got in the market already is extremely
positive. I don’t doubt we will be
successful.”
It is a statement that no doubt will
be severely tested over coming years,
since selling small jets, particularly in
Asia Pacific, has been an uphill battle
for both Bombardier and competitor
Embraer.
What that small jet would now be
called was revealed when it performed
a low level fly-past above the main
runway at Toulouse before landing,
resplendent in its new Airbus livery,
emblazoned along its fuselage with
the new designation, A220. This
version was the A220-300, formerly
the CS300, a 130 to 160-seater. The
smaller A220-100, formerly the
CS100, fits into the 100 to 135-seat
category.
According to Airbus, they are
a perfect fit below its A320 family
models and will soon be rolling off
the shelf to enthusiastic buyers. A
day later, that certainly appeared a
possibility as it was announced US
operator jetBlue had ordered 60
A220-300s. And a week later at the
Farnborough Airshow another 60
of the same type were ordered for a
planned new US start-up in which
jetBlue also has an interest.
Those sales cemented the
conviction of Airbus that some 40 per
cent of the demand for the new plane
will be in North America.
Yet, despite this early flurry, Airbus
is well aware the road ahead is fraught
with difficulty.
What it has bought into is an
aircraft that has, thus far, had a rocky

48 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION