Bombardier Aerospace announced today that it has secured a firm order from Lease Corporation International (LCI) Aviation for 20 C Series airliners. The order, which involved a purchase agreement covering three CS100 and 17 CS300s, gave the C Series program its second firm customer. Earlier this month Deutsche Lufthansa placed a firm order for thirty 115-seat CS100s–the smaller of the two-member narrowbody family, which ranges in capacity from 110 to 145 seats.

The latest buyer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dublin-based Lease Corporation International Limited (LCI), also took options on a further 20 C Series airplanes. LCI is a privately owned company that leases airplanes to major airlines such as Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Air France and Virgin Atlantic. Based on list prices, the value of the order for the 20 airplanes totals $1.44 billion.

“This firm order for both CS100 and CS300 aircraft adds to the momentum we anticipated for C Series aircraft following the initial firm order by Deutsche Lufthansa,” said Bombardier Commercial Aircraft president Gary Scott. “We are grateful for LCI's confidence in the CSeries aircraft and delighted to welcome them as the launch leasing company customer. We look forward to working with them on further development of the aircraft for its entry into service in 2013.”

Lufthansa served as the launch customer for the airplane when it signed a letter of interest for up to 60 of the airplanes, including options on 30, during the Farnborough Air Show last July. Speculation and skepticism about the lack of a firm order had gathered momentum recently, however, frustrating a tight-lipped C Series braintrust while the supervisory board at Lufthansa took about nine months to finally seal the first deal.