Bombardier to sell 5 jets to Iraqi Airways for $387 million
DUBAI (Reuters) - Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) has signed a letter of intent to sell five CSeries jetliners to Iraqi Airways, the Canadian plane and train maker said on Tuesday.
Iraq's national carrier will acquire five of the CS300 jets with options for 11 more planes, the company said in an announcement at the Dubai Airshow.
The order is valued at $387 million at list price. However, with the options, the deal would be worth $1.26 billion. Iraq Airways currently operates six of Bombardier's CRJ900 NextGen regional jets.
Bombardier hopes the CSeries aircraft family can catapult it into the low end of a market now dominated by Boeing Co (BA) and Airbus (EAD.PA).
The first test plane was unveiled in March and took flight for the first time in September after months of delays.
But firm orders for the CSeries are moderate so far at 177, as potential buyers wait for flight test results to validate the company's claims about the new jetliner's fuel efficiency and cost savings potential.
Gulf carriers like Qatar Airways have also shown interest in the plane.
The aircraft currently has booked orders and commitments for 419 CSeries aircraft with about 16 customers, Bombardier said.
The firm is targeting 300 firm orders by the time the first jet is put into commercial use.
(Reporting by Shakti Prasad and Nadia Saleem; Writing by Praveen Menon; Editing by Mark Potter)
