To kick off the Paris Airshow, Bombardier and SWISS have announced a minor modification to SWISS’ existing CS100 order.
Originally, SWISS had ordered 30 CS100 aircraft that should begin entering service during 2016. However, the order has been amended to now include Bombardier’s CS300 as well.
SWISS’ CS100….photo courtesy of Bombardier
Specifically, the ‘middle 10’ of the existing 30 plane order will be converted from CS100 to CS300 aircraft. The expectation is that the CS300 will debut in the LX fleet sometime in 2017. This move allows SWISS more flexibility with route planning and capacity for their European routes since the CS100 is designed for approximately 100 passengers while the CS300 can be configured for up to 150 passengers.
Adding the CS300 has little impact on maintenance and training since the CS100 and CS300 share about 95% of the same pieces and parts. They also carry the same type rating so pilots do not need additional training to fly the -300.
SWISS also indicated that the aircraft will carry a 2-3 cabin configuration (2 seats on the left, 3 on the right) as well as the typical ‘European’ business class ‘cabin’. For those of you unfamiliar with ‘European Business Class’, its simply the economy cabin seat but without a passenger sitting next to you. For the 2-3 config, passengers sitting on the ‘2 seat side’ will not have someone sitting next to them, while the ‘3 seat side’ will have an empty middle seat.
