TORONTO (AP) -- Bombardier has delayed again the first test flight of its much-touted CSeries single-aisle airliner.
The world's third-largest maker of civilian commercial aircraft had been aiming for the first flight by the end of July, but said Wednesday it will occur "in the coming weeks" without giving a target date. The plane was originally scheduled to fly by the end of 2012 and was delayed again last month. Bombardier said highly technical last steps are taking more time than initially anticipated to validate the overall systems and ongoing software integration.
"While the process has taken more time than we had expected, we are pleased with the results and are very comfortable taking more time to ensure the required integration is finalized and the CSeries aircraft is cleared for its first flight," said Mike Arcamone, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.
The Montreal-based company has said it hopes to capture half the global market of the 100-to-149-seat planes, and has marketed the plane as being 20 percent more fuel-efficient than the comparable Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family of aircraft.
Bombardier has received 388 commitments for two versions of the aircraft, including 177 firm orders.
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