Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said on Wednesday he expects to see the first results of the company"™s new majority stake in Bombardier"™s CSeries jetliner program within weeks, around the time of the Farnborough Air Show later this month.
"I"™m convinced we"™ll see first results already in the next couple of weeks," Enders told employees at a CSeries plane factory near Montreal.
Asked later about CSeries orders, Enders told reporters there might be something to see in time for the industry"™s flagship event, the Farnborough Air Show, which begins on July 16.
He did not elaborate on whether this meant new firm orders for the 110- to 130-seat planes.
Airbus SE (AIR.PA) took a majority stake in Bombardier Inc"™s (BBDb.TO) CSeries after completing a tie-up with the Canadian train and plane maker on Sunday.
Bombardier agreed in 2017 to sell Airbus a 50.01 percent stake in its key commercial jet for a token fee of one Canadian dollar, after sluggish sales, high costs and low production rates pushed the plane program well over budget.
Enders repeated comments from 2017 that he expects to sell "thousand" of CSeries aircraft, although neither he nor plane program head Philippe Balducchi would give specific figures for new orders in 2018…
