MONTREAL - Aerospace industry observers are eagerly watching for confirmation this week that Bombardier's CSeries aircraft will make its maiden test flight next month.

Amid expectations of a weak first-quarter, analysts see the plane's progress as a potential catalyst to turn around the transportation giant's lagging share price.

Kevin Chiang of CIBC World Markets says "all eyes are turned towards the CSeries first flight" by the end of June and signals that it will avoid delays that gripped Boeing's 787 aircraft.

"If Bombardier fails to meet this milestone, then questions about whether the CSeries will follow in the footsteps of the Dreamliner will only get louder," he wrote in a report.

"In other words, the success of first flight will be used as a barometer to gauge the ability for Bombardier to execute on its CSeries program."

The first flight has been already delayed about six months from initial forecasts.

Analysts describe it as the "first domino" needed to achieve Bombardier's long-term targets of generating US$5 billion to US$8 billion of additional revenues in five years.

Joseph Nadol of JP Morgan said the CSeries remains a key issue but he isn't expecting any change from the June target date.

Turan Quettawala of Scotiabank also believes the CS100 will likely fly this summer, which will reduce the risk for the company and could lead to some orders.

He said the first-quarter has been weak for orders for both the company's aerospace and transportation divisions.

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Aerospace analysts eager for confirmation of June Bombardier CSeries test flight