[Cpt.Najeeb]

Gulf Air’s plans to order the Bombardier CSeries regional jet may be in doubt, after the airline’s CEO announced plans to meet the Canadian manufacturer in the next few weeks. The Bahraini national carrier contracted for 10 CS100s in 2012 but, like all customers for the Canadian twinjet, has had to cope with the aircraft’s protracted development program. Certification of the CSeries took place in December 2015 and the launch customer—Swiss International Airlines—is due to receive its initial CS100 in the first half of 2016.
“We were supposed to receive the first aircraft in December 2013,” Gulf Air’s acting CEO Maher Salman Al Musallam said as the Bahrain International Air Show opened. “We’re supposed to be the launch customer in the Middle East—that’s how they are referring to us.” “We are going to meet with them very soon to look thoroughly through the contract [and at] the regional jet concept that led Gulf Air into buying the CSeries. This concept needs to be studied completely … whether it’s going to be viable for Gulf Air to continue to renegotiate a delivery date with Bombardier or something else.” He anticipated a decision would be made around March.
When development of the CSeries began it had promised around a 20% fuel saving on the Airbus A320 family, Al Musallam noted. However, Airbus was now introducing the modernized, re-engined A320neo, which it said would deliver a 16%-17% improvement in fuel costs on its predecessor. Gulf Air operates two Airbus types, the single-aisle A320/321 and the twin-aisle A330-200, with a fleet size of 28 aircraft. It announced major orders for the A320/321neo, plus an amended order for the Boeing 787-9 earlier this week. “I don’t know, as a small airline, whether we are able to operate a third type or not. This is a big decision,” Al Musallam said.