News Backgrounder
Embraer targets Asia for its 190-E2 jets
July 1st 2018
New generation commercial jet, Embraer’s 190 E2, made a perfect entry into service with launch customer, Norway’s Wideroe, in April. Read More » Next on the agenda is an Asia sales drive intended to persuade the region’s airlines the new jet types are the best value for money aircraft in the 150 or below seat category.
“We are very happy with the operational results. The latest numbers I have are for the first six weeks. They had 100% schedule reliability,” Meijer told Orient Aviation on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s annual general meeting last month.
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| 'We believe, with this aircraft, that airlines can bypass big hubs and focus on frequency and connecting more city pairs' |
| Arjan Meijer Embraer Commercial Aircraft Chief commercial officer |
The aircraft type has been certified in Brazil, the U.S and Europe since the start of the year, he said. “This was a sign to the market the aircraft was ready to be delivered. All Embraer’s promises about the jet being on specification, on budget and on schedule came true. We delivered to promise and a lot sooner than everyone was expecting,” he said. Launch to first delivery of the 190-E2 was 56 months.
The 190 E2 is the first of three variants of the new jet. It will be followed by the larger 195 E2 that will be delivered to launch customer, Brazil’s Azul Airlines, in the first half of next year. The final variant is the 175-E2 due in 2020-2021. Embraer forecasts a market of 3,000 aircraft in the up to 150 seat sector in the next two decades.
Orders to date for the jets are SkyWest Airlines (100 175 E2), lessors Aircastle (15 190 E2 and 10 195 E2) and ILFC (25 190 E2 and 25 195 E2), Azul (30 195 E2) and Wideroe (3 190 E2). The only Asian customer is China’s Tianjin Airlines, which has committed to 20 190 E2. Indonesia’s Kalstar Aviation ordered five E190s but has since gone out of business
Selling “regional” aircraft in Asia has been a tough task for their manufacturers because airlines are largely wedded to Airbus and Boeing single-aisle planes. Embraer believed the new E2 series jets will provide the breakthrough it has long needed in the region.
“We have offices in Singapore and Beijing, local training providers and a very good support organization. But in the end, all airlines look at the total cost of ownership and the lowest cost per seat,” he said.
“We go for market share and optimizing an airline’s profits. This is where we can help airlines. We also offer a flat rate per hour to customers for all MRO, checks and management of lease term conditions. All the airline has to do is fly the plane.”
.Embraer said the 144-seat 195 E2 is specifically suited to Asia. “These aircraft, especially the 195 E2, can operate at a 25% lower trip cost compared with the A320neo or the B737MAX 8, with only slightly higher unit costs. It is why we call it ‘the profit enhancer’,” he said.
“Asian airlines always have said ‘well a smaller aircraft with 10% lower trip costs but 10% more seat costs is not going to work’. Now we can say they can reduce 25% of their seat costs. You don’t have to fly those seats. Just take them away and you still attract the benefit of very aggressive seat costs.”
While Meijer can’t comment on discussions that would see Boeing take control of Embraer’s commercial jet operations, including the E2 product line, he said Airbus’s majority ownership of Embraer rival, Bombardier’s C Series program, was “good for the industry”.
“We believe the market will see that the crossover family, if you will, of anything up to the 150 seats, is being addressed. We think it will trigger more appetite for the sector from customers. If there is going to be more campaigns then automatically those customers will look for all the opportunities in the market. They won’t simply go after one. They will always go and look at all the merits.
“We always like to emphasize we have the most efficient aircraft in that segment. Nothing has changed today. It’s a fact. We have the same engines on the plane [as rival models], but our aircraft is bespoke developed for the segment up to 150 seats. If we compare the C Series 100 with the 195 E2, the empty weights are most comparable, but our airplane can fly 10 more seats.
“On an apples to apples basis [with rival aircraft] the engines are the same and the fuel is the same, but the E2 is a more efficient plane. We believe that is going to drive the demand for this airplane.”
