Airbus, Bombardier Agree CSeries Deal

Airbus has agreed to buy a controlling stake in the Bombardier CSeries airliner, and plans to assemble some of the aircraft in the US.

Airbus will acquire a 50.01 percent stake in the CSeries Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP), diluting Bombardier’s share in the aircraft programme to around 31 percent and Investissement Québec to 19 percent.

Under the agreement, the partnership’s headquarters and primary assembly will remain in Québec, with an additional CSeries assembly line to be established at Airbus’s existing site in Mobile, Alabama.

Airbus said the CSeries complements its existing portfolio, with the Bombardier aircraft selling into the 100 to 150 seat market, while the European manufacturer focuses on larger 150-240 seat single-aisle planes. Airbus’s marketing and support networks are also expected to strengthen and accelerate the CSeries’ commercial momentum.

“The CSeries, with its state-of-the-art design and great economics, is a great fit with our existing single-aisle aircraft family,” Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said. “Not only will this partnership secure the CSeries and its industrial operations in Canada, the UK and China, but we also bring new jobs to the US,” he added.

CSeries aircraft assembled in the United States will not be subject to the 300 percent duty the US Commerce Department imposed last week on Canadian commercial aircraft imports.

The duty was imposed after Boeing petitioned the Commerce Department alleging that Bombardier had sold 75 CSeries aircraft to Delta Air Lines at a cost that amounted to dumping.

“We are very pleased to welcome Airbus to the CSeries,” Bombardier chief executive Alain Bellemare said. “This partnership should more than double the value of the CSeries programme and ensures our remarkable game-changing aircraft realises its full potential.”

Airbus said the transaction has been approved by the boards of both Airbus and Bombardier, and the Cabinet of the Government of Québec. Completion of the deal is expected in the second half of 2018, subject to regulatory approval.