Embraer’s new E195-E2 will be capable of flying between Sydney and Bali or Darwin to Bangkok after the manufacturer lifted the published range of the regional jet.
In early June, Embraer said the E195-E2 would be capably of flying 2,600nm, an improvement from the previous figure of 2,450nm in 2016 when the company made changes to the wing and from 2,000nm at the launch of the E2 regional jet program in 2013.
The improved range was based on the results of the flight test program so far. The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) has also increased to 61,500kg, from 60,700 previously. By way of comparison, Bombardier’s CS100 has a range of 3,100nm.
Range circles from Embraer provided to Australian Aviation showed the E195-E2 configured with 120 passengers would be able to fly between Sydney and Bali (2,495nm) or Sydney and Apia (2,336nm), based on certain assumptions.
From Darwin, that puts destinations such as Bangkok (2,378nm), Hanoi (2,496nm) and Taipei (2,310nm) within range of the E195-E2, again based on certain assumptions.
“We think Asia and Australia markets are markets where the E-jets can offer a huge role in a network both from a capacity and a range perspective,” Embraer Commercial Aviation chief commercial officer Arjan Meijer told Australian Aviation in an interview on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting in Cancun on June 6.
Similarly, Embraer said the E190-E2’s performance at so-called hot and high airports such as Denver, or short-field airports such as London City was expected to be better than initial estimates, based on the how the aircraft has been operating during flight test.
There are three variants in the E2 family of aircraft – the E175-E2, which seats 80-90 passengers, the E190-E2 (97-114 passengers) and the E195-E2 (120- 144 passengers). They will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1700G and PW1900G geared turbofan engines.
As of June 2017, Embraer had four E190-E2s and one E195-E2 in its flight test fleet. The first E190-E2 is expected to be delivered to launch customer Widerøe in the first half of 2018, while the E195-E2 entry-into-service was planned for the first half of 2019.
The E2 improves on the current generation E-Jets with new engines, new aerodynamically advanced, high-aspect ratio, distinctively shaped wings, and improved systems and avionics, including fourth generation full fly-by-wire flight controls.
Virgin Australia was removing all 18 of its current generation E190s by the end of calendar 2017.
(Read more about Embraer’s E2 jets in the July edition of Australian Aviation, on sale from June 29.)
