Embraer’s E195-E2 has received certification from aviation regulators in the U.S., Europe and Brazil—meaning the plane is ready to enter the market. It is also likely the company’s last commercial airliner certification as an independent manufacturer, as its partnership with Boeing is expected to finalize this year.
The same production line, located at the company’s facilities in São José dos Campos, Brazil, are being used to build the entire E2 family, including E175, 190 and the 195 aircraft. Note that Boeing has had difficulties using a single assembly line for multiple products, eventually deciding to introduce a new line for production of the 737 MAX.
The narrow-body E2 is the largest plane Embraer has ever built, at 136 feet long, with a 146 seat capacity that includes three additional seat rows. It can also be configured with 120 seats in two classes. The E195-E2 has new Pratt & Whitney PW1900G ultra-high bypass ratio engines, a redesigned wing, full fly-by-wire and new landing gear. In fact, 75 per cent of the jet’s systems are new compared to the first-generation E195.
The aircraft has a range of 2,600 nautical miles with a full passenger load. It can also navigate shorter airfields like Denver and Santos Dumont. The E2 only needs an 1,800 meter air field to take off from. The company claims that E195 trip costs are 22% lower than a 154-seat A320neo and 24% lower than a 160-seat MAX 8 jet. Of course, seat counts are subject to change by the airline.
“This is another great achievement from our engineering and program teams,” said Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Embraer President & CEO. “They’ve built, and now have certification for, the most efficient single-aisle jet on the market. And they’ve done it again right on schedule and exceeding specification.”
Embraer emphasized the E2’s environmental bona fides. Fuel consumption is 25.4 per cent lower per seat compared to its predecessor. It also has low levels of external noise and emissions compared to its competitors.
Maintenance costs are also 20 per cent lower than previous E195s. Embraer claims that the E2 has the longest maintenance intervals in the single-aisle jet category—10,000 flight hours for basic checks and no calendar limit for typical operations. This results in an additional 15 days of aircraft use over ten-year a period over current generation Embraer jets.
Since its launch at the 2013 Paris Air Show, Embraer has received 121 firm orders for the jet from five customers, including launch operator Azul Brazilian Airlines.
The Brazilian planemaker hopes its deal with Boeing will open up new opportunities for the E2—the company anticipates the deal will bring in another 400 customers initially, with potential for a broader footprint in the market.
“There’s no question that airlines are going to love this airplane’s economics,” said John Slattery, President & CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation. “The E195-E2 is the ideal aircraft for growing regional business and complementing existing low-cost and mainline fleets.”
Now that it’s been certified, Embraer can start delivering the planes as early as mid-year 2019.
To read more about the company, find out why Embraer Anticipates a Profitable Future in China.