Brazil-based airline Azul has officially received the first Embraer E195-E2 regional jet.
The handover ceremony was held at Embraer’s São José dos Campos facility on Thursday (Brazil time).
Azul, the launch customer of the E195-E2, was due to receive a further five E195-E2s before the end of 2019. The aircraft have been configured with 136 seats in a single-class layout.
— Embraer (@embraer) September 12, 2019
Embraer Commercial Aviation chief executive John Slattery said the aircraft was “absolutely ideal for Azul’s low-fare business model and AerCap’s fleet portfolio.
“Passengers are going to love the new interior and airlines are going to love the extraordinary operating economics,” Slattery said in a statement.
“I’m proud of everyone on the Embraer team who worked so hard to see this day.”
Azul founder and chairman David Neeleman said the E195-E2 help the airline launch “the next chapter” in Brazilian aviation.
“We could not be more proud to bring this Brazilian aircraft, built with Brazilian technology and innovation to the Brazilian skies,” Neeleman said.
“The E2 represents the next significant step in Azul’s fleet transformation, further powering our margin expansion story well into the years to come.”
AerCap chief executive Aengus Kelly wished Embraer and Azul every success with E2 program.
The E195-E2 jet is the largest commercial aircraft produced by the Brazilian company and the second of three E2 variants to receive certification.
The E2 program was launched in 2013 to advance the earlier range of E170, E175, E190 and E195 jets.
The E2 lineup comprises the E190-E2 which was certified in March 2018, the larger E195-E2, and the E175-E2.
Like its E2 predecessors, the company said maintenance intervals in the single-aisle jet category of 10,000 flight hours for basic checks meant an additional 15 days of aircraft utilisation over a period of 10 years, compared to current generation E-Jets. The E195-E2 was also able to serve more markets from limited airfields.
The E195-E2 is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1900 engines; it can carry up to 146 passengers in one class and has a range of 2,600 nautical miles (4,820km). It also features a new wing, new landing gear and is fullly fly-by-wire. By comparison, the first-generation E195 carried up to 124 passengers and has a 2,300nm range.
Embraer told Australian Aviation in 2017 that the E195-E2’s 2,600nm was 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.
Range circles from Embraer 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.
At June 30 2019, Embraer had 124 firm orders and 50 options for the E195-E2, as well as 38 outstanding firm orders and 61 options for the E190-E2.
The E175-E2 was currently under development and expected to enter service in 2021.
VIDEO: Photographer Seth Jaworski takes a look at Embraer E195-E2 demonstrator PR-ZIQ when the aircraft visited Sydney in July 2019 in a video posted on his Instagram page.
