Thursday, September 26, 2013

Lion Air Considers Buying Bombardier Jets: Canadian Plane Maker Tries to Improve Backlog of CSeries Orders

September 26, 2013, 5:43 p.m. ET

By JON OSTROWER

The Wall Street Journal


Bombardier Inc. said Thursday it is in talks with Lion Air of Indonesia about a potential sale of the Canadian company's CSeries jetliners to the budget carrier, a deal that would bolster the plane maker's efforts to secure new customers.

Bombardier has struggled to build a significant backlog of orders for its new 100- to 160-seat CSeries jets amid fierce competition from established competitors Boeing Co. and Airbus.

Lion Air Chief Executive Rusdi Kirana said in Montreal on Thursday that he was impressed by Bombardier's CSeries. Mr. Kirana said he met Wednesday with Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, and toured a CSeries jet. A spokesman for Bombardier confirmed that the meeting took place.

Bombardier declined to comment on when any deal might be completed, but a spokesman for the Canadian company said it was "pleased" with Mr. Kirana's "positive comments" about the aircraft, which made its first flight on Sept. 16.

Mr. Kirana was reported to have said he wants to complete a deal with Bombardier in time for the 2014 Farnborough air show outside of London.

Bombardier current backlog for the CSeries stands at 177 firm orders. List prices for the CSeries are $63 million for smaller versions and $72 million for larger models, before discounts, compared with about $70 million to $92 million for similar models from Boeing and Airbus.

Lion Air purchased 230 Boeing planes in 2012 and 234 Airbus aircraft earlier this year to support its growth plans for Southeast Asia. Airbus is a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.

Source:   http://online.wsj.com

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