Paris Air Show: Bombardier sees healthy demand for business jets

Le Bourget, France: Airport security hassles and booming corporate profits worldwide are driving demand for Bombardier's "flying boardrooms," according to Pierre Cote, head of Bombardier's business jet division. Cote was speaking in an interview with Market Watch.

According to Cote, entrepreneurs in China, Russia and India were also becoming increasingly aware of the additional comfort and productivity that private jets could deliver.

Cote emphasized the improvements that Bombardier had made to the existing Lear Jet, Challenger and Global families. The Challenger 605, for instance, now boasts larger windows, in conformity with a long-standing demand of Bombardier customers.

He also pointed out that the most significant adjustment made was to the range of its aircraft, with people wanting to go further and also wanting to fly non-stop. The Global Express, for instance, can already fly nonstop from Paris to Los Angeles or Beijing.

Cote said engineers are looking at reducing the weight of the aircraft by using more composite materials in an effort to extend the range of aircraft even further. Composites allow aircraft to burn less fuel, are easier to maintain and can be easily shaped to optimize performance.

Cote said that a current backlog of orders was putting suppliers under considerable strain.
"The market is really good. We have a healthy backlog...but how fast we can build those planes is a problem. The supply chain is under stress," said Cote.

Meanwhile, Bombardier signed a memorandum of understanding with China Aviation Industry Corp. (AVIC I) on Monday to cooperate in the market for 90- to-149 seat airliners, saying that it would invest $100 million in AVIC's regional jet programme.