Bombardier, maker of the Canadair Regional Jet(CRJ) announced today it has added a 100-seater option to its lineup after receiving 38 firm orders for it today, which included the conversion of previous CRJ900 orders. The CRJ1000 is a stretch version of the CRJ900(90-seater aircraft and originally referred to as the CRJ900x. It is 3 meters longer than the CRJ900, and offers a larger overhead bin, bigger windows, and better interior lighting. They also aim to lower the operating costs by 15 percent over previous models.
Development costs for the CRJ1000 will be 300 billion over three years. The expanded cabin would put it into better competition with the Embraer 190, which has beat it in terms of mainline jet like interior feel.
An undisclosed customer ordered 15 for a list price of about $704 million. Air France unit Brit Air ordered eight, and My Way Airlines of Italy converted 15 of its 19 CRJ900 orders to CRJ1000s
However, its launch of the CRJ1000 regional jet will not affect its development plans for the 110-130 seat CSeries jet, meant to compete in the market with Boeing and Airbus. The CSeries would be a mainline aircraft with 5 seats across. Bombardier has a significant market share along with competitor Embraer of the regional jet market. Neither company has made a foray into the mainline market yet, although 100-seater planes may be operated by various carriers as mainline service. Officially, Bombardier has not made a formal decision about developing the aircraft.