Bombardier launches new jetliner

Hundreds of employees and guests cheered as the passenger jet - with a Canadian and two Americans flying it - departed from Mirabel airport in the north-west corner of Montreal for a test flight.

For the first time, Bombardier will now be competing directly with the smallest airliners from aerospace giants Airbus and Boeing.

"And so begins"a new chapter for Bombardier because it's a category of aircraft that we didn't offer in the past," Bombardier's chief executive Pierre Baudoin said moments before the CS100 took off.

The company has already secured 177 firm orders for the narrow-body twin-engine aircraft, which uses 20% less fuel than competitors, and is scheduled for first deliver at the end of 2014.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge