This past week has been a significant one for Brazil-based global major aerospace group Embraer, with it being able to announce a series of commercial and defence aviation contracts, selections and deliveries. These involve customers in Europe, the Middle East and North America.
On Thursday, the company reported that it had won a firm order from American Airlines for four new E175 airliners, part of the airframer’s E-Jet family of small single-aisle airliners. These will be operated by the carrier’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Envoy Air, which operates only E-Jets. This latest order will take Envoy’s E-Jet fleet to more than 150 aircraft.
“These new jets will allow us to continue growing with American Airlines,” highlighted Envoy president and CEO Pedro Fábregas. “We’re pleased to announce these additional four aircraft, following the order announced in June, as the US domestic and regional markets recover from a very challenging few years. The E175 allows us to provide an excellent and reliable service to American Airlines and the thousands of guests we serve every day.”
Also on the commercial side, Embraer signed new multi-year Pool Programme servicing agreements with Luxair, in Luxembourg, and with Royal Jordanian Airlines, and signed an agreement to expand its existing Pool Programme agreement with Marathon Airlines, in Greece. Announced on Tuesday, the agreement with Royal Jordanian Airlines will cover a fleet of eight E190-E2 and E195-E2 airliners. (The -E2 family is the next generation follow-on to the airframer’s E-Jet family; of the original E-Jets, only the E175 remains in production.) The contract with Luxair will provide servicing support for the four new E195-E2s acquired by the carrier. The agreement with Marathon was modified so that it can include two further E195s obtained by the airline, whose E-Jet fleet now totals seven, divided into three E175s, one E190 and three E195s.
On the defence side, Embraer announced on Monday that its C-390 medium military transport aircraft had been selected by the Czech Air Force to fulfil its airlift requirement. Discussions on the acquisition of two of the aircraft, which can carry a payload of 26 t and have a speed of 470 knots (870 km/h), will now start.
The C-390 fleet of the home and launch customer, the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), reached a significant symbolic milestone, the company announced on Wednesday. The six aircraft so far in operation with the FAB have accumulated 10 000 flying hours, since the first one was delivered, just four years ago. In FAB service, the C-390 has delivered an operational availability of 80% and a mission accomplishment rate of more than 99%.
And on Thursday, the first KC-390 for the Portuguese Air Force was handed over to the customer, in Beja, Portugal. (The KC-390 is a C-390 which is equipped to also undertake air-to-air refuelling, as well as normal transport missions.) Portugal is the largest international partner in the C-390/KC-390 programme, and has five of the type on order.
The C-390/KC-390 has also been ordered by Hungary. And, in addition to the Czech Republic, the aircraft has been selected by Austria and the Netherlands.