Porter Airlines close to ordering first jets from Bombardier: report
by The Canadian Press
Toronto-based airline could be unnamed firm that signed deal to buy 30 jets last December
TORONTO—The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Toronto-based Porter Airlines is preparing to announce an order for up to 30 CSeries jets from Bombardier Inc.
The paper also said Porter—which currently uses only Bombardier turboprop planes in its fleet—signed a letter of intent with Montreal-based Bombardier in December.
Bombardier announced at the time that an unidentified customer in the Americas had expressed interest in a dozen, 110-seat CS100 jets with an option on 18 more.
It valued the 30 planes at $2.08-billion before discounts.
Porter flies to about a dozen cities in Eastern Canada and the United States and carried 2.45 million passengers last year.
It competes against the much larger Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. and has differentiated itself by using a small island airport near downtown Toronto and using only Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes.
Neither Bombardier nor Porter has commented publicly on the report, which cites two unidentified sources familiar with the deal.
