The program's team continues to optimize the aircraft configuration to meet customers' requirements for a more economical, flexible and passenger-oriented airliner. The new target date for entry into service is now 2013.
New developments under consideration include increased use of composite material for the wing and fuselage and the next-generation engine technology, which could yield up to 15% better fuel burn than the existing technology on aircraft in production today. Heightened customer and supplier interest confirm Bombardier's belief in addressing the lower end of the 100 to 149-seat market segment, estimated at 5,800 aircraft over the next 20 years.
