Things are slowly progressing with the Bombardier CSeries, as another flight is put in the logbook of the plane.
The flight was a bit shorter than the first flight, logging 90 minutes in the air (compared to 2 and half hours for the first flight), with the landing gears stowed during flight and reaching an altitude of 12,500ft.
Unlike some flight tests, there was a longer than normal period of time between the first and the second flight – this was to allow Bombardier to look at information from the first flight and implement changes.
One of the purposes of this flight was to collect noise data about the aircraft. This is especially important that Bombardier collects this data for one its customers – Porter Airlines of Canada – who intend to operate this brand new plane from Toronto Island City Airport (which like London City Airport has noise restrictions).
Porter have 12 provisional aircraft orders on the order books – which are subject to Toronto City Council, Toronto Port Authority and Canadian Government to lift the ban on jet aircraft using Toronto City Island Airport by proving the new CSeries is quiet enough to operate there. The timing of the data will become critical as the councils are due to vote on extending the runway in December.
Porter intends to expand its network with the CSeries, connecting Vancouver, Florida and other destinations that would be tough to reach with a Dash8-Q400.
The CSeries has a lot of promise in the 110-150 seat category that some airlines can see the value of. For those who are aboard it, the 3-2 seating in the back a 2-2 seating at the front should give it a “Modern MD-80” twist inside, whilst hopefully keeping fares low with modern aircraft.
There is still a long way to go for the CSeries (including the announcement of the first delivery date), but its steps along the way for this project.
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