EMBRAER EYES MALAYSIAN MARKET
Brazilian firm looking at industrial collaboration on its narrow-body jets
EMBRAER S.A. is considering establishing its presence in Malaysia via an industrial collaboration to tap into the local aerospace sector.
Its commercial aviation for Asia Pacific head Raul Villaron said the Brazilian aerospace conglomerate recognised Malaysia as a crucial aerospace hub in the Asia Pacific region with industrial capability in the aerospace sector.
“We see the possibility for industrial collaboration. Some suppliers in Malaysia provide parts for our second-generation E-Jet family, the E-Jet E2,” he told the New Straits Times last Friday.
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of small narrow-body twinengine jets with a capacity of carrying between 70 and 146 passengers commercially.
The first-generation E-Jets entered into service in 2004, and the new generation E-Jets E2 entered into service in 2018.
Villaron said Embraer would continue to engage with local suppliers for potential projects in future to expand its footprint.
“The Asia Pacific region is a crucial and strategic market for Embraer to grow in terms of customer base, customer support and partnerships,” he added.
Villaron said Embraer was in talks with the local airlines to promote the company’s latest E195-E2 aircraft, which entered into service in 2019.
“We have been in discussion with local airlines on right-sizing their aircraft fleets,” he said.
Villaron said incorporating smaller narrow-body aircraft into existing fleets would be crucial to an accelerated airline recovery in Malaysia.
“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, most airlines had a capacity-demand mismatch on several routes. Hence, we see our aircraft size with a capacity of 80 to 146 seats as a good fit for Malaysia,” he said.
Villaron said the need for smaller narrow-body aircraft in Malaysia would be sustained for more than a decade, adding that there was a demand for this aircraft segment even before the pandemic.
“If in pre-Covid-19 times there was already a huge demand for E2s, the need now is more evident,,” he said.