Lufthansa CEO expects to benefit from Airbus, Bombardier deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Lufthansa will benefit from future cooperation between airplane makers Airbus and Bombardier as it is a major customer of both companies, the German airline's chief executive Carsten Spohr said.

Airbus has agreed to buy a majority stake in Bombardier's CSeries jetliner program, giving a powerful boost to the Canadian plane and train maker in its costly trade dispute with Boeing Co.

"The cooperation of strong partners and the joint development of technology are of enormous importance in the aircraft sector," Spohr said on the sidelines of an Airlines4Europe event in Brussels.

"As a major customer of Airbus and launch customer and operator of the Bombardier CSeries, Lufthansa will benefit from the future cooperation of two companies that are bundling their innovation and competence," he said.

Lufthansa unit Swiss was the launch operator of the CSeries and has 30 of the planes on order, including 20 of the larger variant, the CS300.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Writing by Maria Sheahan)