Plane Nation

The prototype Bombardier CRJ1000 NextGen regional jet took to the air on 3 September from the airframer’s plant at Mirabel, near Montreal. During the 3h 25min maiden sortie the 100-seater reached an altitude of 30,000ft (9,150m) and a maximum speed of 260kt (480km/h).

Bombardier today announced that its Board of Directors has granted approval for the launch of the CSeries family of aircraft, a new game-changing five abreast commercial airliner family, with the economics, performance, environmental and passenger-oriented improvements demanded by airline customers for the next quarter century. Entry into service is scheduled for 2013.