Bombardier is ready to sell its new C-series passenger jet to Qatar Airways but is waiting on Qatar to sort out problems with engine maker Pratt & Whitney , the head of the Canadian group's commercial plane unit said.Separately at the Farnborough Airshow on Monday, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said "issues", which he would not specify, had gotten in the way of signing a deal.Bombardier pinned the delay largely on the engines."Our customers generally need to agree on a support plan for the engine," Bombardier Commercial Aircraft President Gary Scott told Reuters in an interview at the Farnborough Airshow."This really is between Pratt and Qatar," he said.Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, could not be reached for comment.Bombardier, the world's No. 1 business jet maker, hopes to enter the narrow-body market with its C-series of aircraft. Bombardier has secured orders for 90 of the C-series planes, which sell for around $50-$77 million at list prices, as well as 90 options.But the company surprised the airshow Monday with only a small order for executive jets from Qatar Airways, bucking expectations it might have a large order for the C-series.The jet, which will serve the 100-149 seat segment, is due to enter service in 2013 but still does not have a launch customer. Scott has said he was not especially concerned about finding that debut user."We have several candidates for that," Scott said.Scott said Bombardier is currently talking to dozens of potential C-series customers around the world. A handful of those discussions are in the advanced stage, he said.He also said Qatar may also be waiting to see what rivals in the narrow-body market -- Boeing Co and Airbus -- decide regarding the possible re-engining of their offerings.The two largest planemakers are deciding whether to design new aircraft or simply equip them with new engines, a move that would bring the planes to market quicker."I think they wanted to understand what was available from a re-engining standpoint," Scott said.News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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