E-Jet updates announced despite no Embraer commercial orders for Farnborough 2024
Despite celebrating nine C-390 Millennium and six A-29 Super Tucano aircraft orders, Embraer is not announcing any commercial aircraft deals at Farnborough 2024; instead unveiling a range of enhancements intended to improve the E-Jet’s appeal.
Following on from yesterday’s nine tactical airlifter aircraft (ordered in a joint deal between the Netherlands and Austria), the purchase of six A-29 Super Tucanos to Paraguay marks the first time the more modern type will see service in the country (with the Fuerza Aérea Paraguay operating the Tucano since 1987). “We are forecasting new momentum in the coming months,” highlighted Bosco da Costa, CEO of Defense and Security at Embraer.
However, turning to the commercial side, no orders will be announced this week – despite Arjan Meijer, president and CEO of Commercial Aviation, announcing that he has “never seen so much traction in the market as today”. With 2,200 firm orders for the E-Jet to date (comprising 90 customers in 60 countries), Embraer projects this figure to rise to potential 10,500 aircraft by 2043; assisted in part by a number of updates announced today.
In a world-first for any aircraft, an Embraer-developed autonomous landing system (E2TS) will help enable an optimum takeoff and landing profile, offering an approximately 350 miles of additional range. With an anticipated entry into service date of the end of 2025, Embraer has already been offering the option to customers, citing interest in the product’s ability to “extract more value out of the ecosystem”.
Meanwhile, the E-175 will benefit from new luggage storage (facilitating one bag per passenger), mood lighting, Ka/Ku-band satellite connectivity and enhanced avionics (including next-generation weather radar). Recaro seating will also be available as a supplier-furnished item from Q4 2024. From 2026, a cabin optimisation initiative will see an extra row of seats included; taking a single-class configuration from 13 to 14 rows, and a two-class layout from 11 to 12 rows. However, the E-175-E2 is described as being “on pause,” with its primary US market preferring the E1.