Page 9 - FARNBOROUGH 2022 SHOW REVIEW

INTERVIEW

POISED TO SOAR eration of 19- to 50-seat aircraft that the plane

maker is currently designing.

THE WARM RECEPTION FROM CARRIERS TO ITS “We announced Energia last year and are cur-
PLANNED TURBOPROP AND THE INDUSTRY’S rently talking to customers, trying to understand
FOCUS ON SMALLER AIRCRAFT SPELL GOOD the segments and figuring out how smaller air-
craft can find a way into the new world,” says
NEWS FOR EMBRAER Meijer. “Our smallest aircraft for the longest time
− ARUN SIVASANKARAN has been the E175 with 80 seats, 76 in the U.S. Now,
we are talking about a segment up to 50 seats.
It is a good time to be Arjan Meijer, President and CEO of We may in the future be talking about smaller
Embraer Commercial Aviation. airlines as well, a different kind of operators. We
also have to find out to what extent the mainlines
With the pandemic turning aviation on its head and carriers be looking at the smaller segment, because that
looking for smaller aircraft, Embraer finds itself poised to take is here breakthroughs will happen first.”
advantage of the situation and to consolidate its hold on the
up-to-150 seats segment. At the recent Farnborough Airshow, Quietly Efficient
the company hit the headlines regularly, announcing a string “The quietness of the cabin is just one of the
of orders, including good news on the E195-E2 program, with many qualities of the aircraft,” said Meijer after
Canadian Porter Airlines, which already had a firm order for the completion of the E2 Tech Shark Profit Hunter
30 E195-E2s, signing a firm order for another 20 aircraft at the aircraft demo flight on the eve of the biennial
biennial event. The carrier, which will be the launch customer event. “The economics of the aircraft is one of the
for the aircraft type in North America, has now placed an order major selling points; it is the most fuel-efficient
for a total of up to 100 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft, including 50 aircraft that is out there today. The noise is the
options.

The bigger news was the enthusiastic response for the com-
pany’s planned turboprop. According to Meijer, the company
already has more than 250 letters of intent for the aircraft,
which will have two variants, with 70 and 90 seats. The aircraft
is scheduled to enter service in 2028, with the official launch
and sales expected in the first half of 2023. Th company is
currently in discussions with Pratt & Whitney Canada and Rolls-
Royce about engines for the aircraft and expects to select one
before the end of the year.

Providing a fillip to Embraer’s efforts for sustainable, emis-
sion-free, and commercially viable aviation, Norway-based
Widerøe became the first airline to join the Energia Advisory
Group, which is based on the Energia family, the next-gen- Arjan Meijer

FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW 2022 AUGUST 2022 9