Bombardier held talks with Airbus over CSeries plane

TORONTO (AP) - Bombardier is confirming it had talks with Airbus to sell a majority stake in its CSeries jet but says those discussions are no longer being pursued.

The struggling Montreal-based aircraft manufactuer said Monday night it will continue to explore similar initiatives.

Bombardier, the world's third-largest maker of civilian commercial aircraft, had hoped to capture half the global market of 100-to-149-seat planes, and has marketed the CSeries plane as being 20 percent more fuel-efficient than the comparable Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family of aircraft. The CSeries is critical to Bombardier Aerospace, which spent years designing the jet.

The $5.4-billion program is billions of dollars over budget and two years late and it hasn't attracted a new firm order in more than a year. The CSeries jet is scheduled to enter service by mid-2016.