In an interview with Xinhua, the vice president of commercial aircraft marketing for Bombardier, Philippe Poutissou, acknowledged the importance this market has for the company, after having come to the Panamanian capital this week to participate in a meeting of the Latin American Air Transport Association (ALTA).

Bombardier is known as one of the world's most important companies in the train business, and is among the world's top three or four manufacturers of aircraft.

While Poutissou recognized that the airplanes Bombardier manufactures are smaller than the models in other aircraft families such as the Aiurbus from European manufacturers or the U.S. Boeing, he considered that it can be a good opportunity to serve secondary cities and regions in this part of world, and to establish connections with the airline networks.

Planes such as the turboprop Q400 by Bombardier can be useful for connecting shorter routes and to fill the need for operations in a mountainous area, like flying across the Andes mountain range, for example, as well as being able to access airports with short runways, he said.

The executive indicated that the production of C series aircraft will make new technology available to markets in Latin America with the need for planes that seat between 100 and 150, and to be able to cover interregional flights.

Poutissou did not specify how big the business with Latin America represents for Bombardier.

The turboprop aircraft are, according to the specialist, intended mainly for local flights lasting up to two hours, while the C Series aircraft are credited with a range of nearly 3,000 nautical miles, or around a six-hour flight. According to Poutissou, Latin America has a growing middle class, which represents an increasing demand for travel.