LE BOURGET—Embraer announced two additional firm orders for the Embraer E175 and E195-E2 at the Paris Air Show on June 20 and confirmed the entry of Avolon as another lessor committing to the E2 family.
American Airlines subsidiary and regional carrier Envoy Air is taking six more E175s with deliveries to start in the fourth of quarter of 2023. The additional aircraft will be used to grow the Envoy E1 fleet to 141 aircraft. The commitment comes as the U.S. regional airline industry is battling a severe pilot shortage, an issue that has recently slowed down demand by U.S. regional airlines for new aircraft.
In Europe, Spanish regional airline Binter Canarias committed to six additional E195-E2s. The latest order takes Binter’s total E195-E2 purchases to 16. Deliveries from previous orders will continue through mid-2024, which is also when aircraft arranged as part of the new deal will start to arrive.
Avolon has become the latest lessor to buy into the E2 program, agreeing to a sale-and-lease-back deal for 10 E195-E2s at Porter Airlines. Around 31% of the E-Jets fleet is on operating lease, according to Embraer. Lessor exposure is key to aircraft manufacturers as it demonstrates that large financial corporations are willing to invest in their products, raising market confidence.
In its latest market forecast released June 20, Embraer predicts demand for around 11,000 aircraft in the market up to 150 seats. Close to 9,000 of them will be jets and just over 2,200 turboprops. Forty-three percent of the aircraft will be used for growth, showing the large replacement wave nearing for first-generation E-Jets.
