Embraer’s E190-E2 Profit Hunter demonstration airplane, with its distinctive shark livery, attracted a lot of attention at this year’s Farnborough Airshow in England, where the Brazilian company reported taking firm orders and letters of intent for an astounding 300 airplanes valued at $15.3 billion. After its European success, the eye-catching airplane went on a tour of six African countries: Algiers, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius, and South Africa.
“The debut of the E190-E2 in Africa is an excellent opportunity for Embraer to show off this ground breaking aircraft that sets new standards in profitability for airlines and comfort levels for passengers,” said Raul Villaron, Vice President, Sales, for Middle East & Africa, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “The E190-E2 cuts fuel burn by more than 17% and is perfectly suited to operate in hot and harsh environments. Some of the airlines for which we presented the aircraft are already an E-Jet operator and eager to know more about the E2s.”
The E190-E2s tour included a flight over Kilimanjaro for Kenya Airways, which is the largest operator of E-Jet aircraft in Africa, FlightGlobal reported.
Air transportation in Africa is expected to see an increase of 270 million passengers in the next 20 years, Embraer said. In January, the African Union launched the Single African Air Transport Market, which aims to lower prices and increase connectivity in traveling the continent.
Along with the new market prospects, Embraer described that their E-Jets could aid in matching aircraft capacity to market demand. Currently, the majority of flights in Africa are operated with large narrow body aircraft, with a seating capacity of over 150 seats. These flights on average have fewer than 130 passengers. The Embraer E190-E2 seats anywhere from 97 to 114 passengers depending on the configuration. In addition, the use of these large narrowbody aircraft results in a decrease in frequency of flights. Most intra-African routes are served with fewer than one flight per day.
“To respond to Africa´s needs for right-sizing, Embraer’s priority is to continue to grow our customer base in the continent and this growth will come from new E-Jets – current and new ‘E2’ generation – as well as from pre-owned E-Jets and ERJs,” Villaron said.
