Embraer promoting ‘profit hunter’ E190-E2 jet to Asia Pacific airlines

LANGKAWI: Embraer was hopeful to gain good traction from airlines in the Asia-Pacific region with the first appearance of the E190-E2 commercial jet at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima) 2019.

With its full cabin configuration, the single-aisle aircraft sported a shark livery to represent its “profit hunter” status, while showcasing its latest technology, efficiency and practicality.

The Brazilian aerospace conglomerate said the E190-E2 was the right size of an aircraft with a lower operating cost, allowing airlines to “preserve” their yields.

Embraer Commercial Aviation of Asia Pacific vice-president Cesar Pereira said the E2 jet would find its footing not only in Malaysia, but throughout the region.

“We believe there are a lot of opportunities for this aircraft in the region, allowing airlines to connect point-to-point destinations. Not all passengers prefer to fly to the main cities, so as to avoid congestion.

“Some passengers might fly to secondary places as they prefer avoiding transit in a congested airport,” he told the New Sunday Times.

Hence, said Pereira, airlines would want to open up new markets to grow sustainably and connect to more secondary cities to increase their market share and load factor.

“With the right size of aircraft, airlines don’t have much empty seats to fill. Hence, airlines can improve their load factor and preserve yields.”

He said airlines operating bigger aircraft might increase its seat capacity, but at the same time incur higher operational and maintenance costs.

“Bigger aircraft also burn more fuel and have many seats to sell. This will lower airlines’ revenue because they have to decrease fares to fill up more seats.”

Pereira said the company’s promotion of its E2 family of jets in Asia Pacific was a Blue Ocean Strategy to attract more airlines to fly this type of aircraft.

“We are in talks with every airline in the region to promote this jet. Everybody is excited about the plane due to its performance as it does well in terms of service, with such features as lower operating costs in the single-aisle segment,” he said.

Among the aircraft improvements is its design, to improve operating cost and enhance passenger comfort.

“It has a new engine, new wings, highest aspect ratio in the singleaisle segment, with a fully fly-bywire system,” he said, adding that the E190-E could accommodate up to 114 passengers.

Pereira said the aircraft was widely used in Europe by industry players like KLM, British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa, for their regional services.

However, he said, Embraer now had the opportunity to serve Asia, adding that it would be a huge advantage for the company to enter the market.

He said the E190-E2 jet was capable of flying without a heavy check for up to 10,000 hours, which was the longest in the industry, allowing airlines to save on maintenance costs.

“Airlines struggle to grow their new destinations. However, aircraft can fly to new destinations and increase networks because it is perfect for the mid-to-low density market.

“We have yet to receive any potential customers from Southeast Asia, but we have one new customer in Asia Pacific. We are willing to build an ecosystem in the region, too.”

Building an ecosystem, he said, would see the setting up of a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in the region.

“A fleet of 30-50 aircraft would enable the opening up an MRO facility here. There might be interested partners to invest too.”