Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace, long known for producing smaller business jets, has revealed the passenger plane it believes will be it a serious competitor for industry giants
At Bombardier's factory in Mirabel, Quebec, executives revealed two important pieces of news: The new CSeries jet should be doing test flights by the end of June, and one model will be able to seat up to 160 passengers.
That size puts the CS300 in the range of the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, which dominate domestic air routes. Most of the CSeries jets will made for the 100- to 149-seat market, which Bombardier says is growing.
Bombardier's move into the larger passenger jet market, combined with the growth of Brazil's Embraer, poses a threat to the dominance of Airbus and Boeing.
Chris Sloan of Airchive.com was in Montreal for the jet's debut, and shared his photos with us. You can read his take on the new jet here.