Bombardier CSeries certified for steep flights into airports like London City

MONTREAL – Bombardier got a boost Wednesday after its smaller CSeries commercial jet was certified to fly out of challenging airports like London City Airport.

Transport Canada and the European Aviation Safety Agency awarded the CS100 steep approach certifications that should allow the plane to take off and land on the airport’s short runway — as well as similar operations such as Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto and in Lhasa, Tibet, and Haifa, Israel.

Swiss International Air Lines will begin to fly the CS100 out of London City later this year.

The plane will double the range that can be flown from the airport, opening new routes including the Eastern United States, Russia, West Africa and the Middle East.

Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) conducted flight tests at the airport in March and flew non-stop between the British capital and New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.