Bombardier seals £4.5bn deal for 60 Belfast-made aircraft

Posted on 29 May 2018 by Jonny Williamson

Bombardier's Belfast workforce has received a boost with an airline placing an order for up to 60 C-Series aeroplanes.

Vanguardia, Aviones C Series de Bombardier
The company will reportedly produce 30 CS300 passenger jets with an option for a further 30 – image courtesy of Bombardier.

Based on book price, the deal could reportedly be worth as much as £4.5bn.

The aerospace firm employs around 4,000 workers in Northern Ireland.

As part of the new deal with Latvian carrier airBaltic, Bombardier will reportedly produce 30 CS300 passenger jets with an option for a further 30.

Bombardier also announced that two additions to their business jet fleet would be part-made in Belfast.

According to Bombardier, the company currently has responsibility for the forward fuselage, engine nacelles, horizontal stabiliser and other components on the Global 5000 and Global 6000 business jets, and the composite horizontal stabiliser and other components on the Global 7000.

The latter will be renamed the Global 7500 following the launch of the new planes.

Bombardier has reported that the new planes, the Global 5500 and Global 6500, will feature ‘unprecedented levels of innovation and comfort’.

Reportedly, more than 2,000 hours of flight testing has already been carried out, as well as all major structural testing. The aim is to have the aircraft entering service towards the end of 2018.

Stephen McCullough, Bombardier’s vice president of integrated product development for the Global 7500 and Global 8000, said: “The rigour and innovation behind our Global 7500 aircraft design and test programme have allowed us to deliver enhanced performance without compromise.”

Earlier this year, Bombardier landed a contract American Airlines worth a potential £1bn for 30 regional jets, which are part-made in Belfast.

In January, Bombardier’s Northern Ireland workforce breathed reportedly a sigh of relief when the US International Trade Commission last month ruled in its favour after a challenge by American rival Boeing. The firm had been facing a 292% tariff on the sale of its planes to the US.