Embraer celebrates 2,000th E-Jet delivery as backlog tops 300 aircraft

The popular Embraer E-Jet family has seen its 2,000th aircraft delivered to Brazil’s largest airline – marking a significant milestone and cementing its position as the third most delivered commercial jet family still in production.

Embraer delivers its 2,000th E-Jet airliner

Embraer has announced that it is celebrating the delivery of its 2,000th E-Jet. The 2,000th jet was an E195-E2 that was delivered to Brazil’s Azul Linhas Aéreas.

Arjan Meijer, President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, stated, “The delivery of the 2,000th E-Jet is an extraordinary milestone for Embraer and for the global aviation transport industry.”

Meijer added, “As one of the world’s three most successful commercial jet programs, the E-Jets family has played a vital role in connecting communities, opening new markets, and creating sustainable growth opportunities for airlines.”

Azul Linhas Aéreas is the largest airline in Brazil by number of destinations served and has operated more than 140 E-Jets. Azul was the launch customer for the E195-E2, taking delivery of the first aircraft in 2019.

A successful regional airliner family

In a press release, Embraer said the achievement underscores the success of one of the world’s “three largest commercial jet families.” The other two families are the A320 family and Boeing 737, each with more than 12,000 deliveries and backlogs bringing the orders close to 20,000.

Calling it one of the three largest commercial jet families by deliveries is technically true, although it doesn’t really belong in the same category as the narrowbody A320 and 737.

The upgraded and re-engined E2 series entered service in 2019 and has seen a total of 464 orders for the E195-E2 and 68 for the E190-E2, for a total of 532 E2 jets. Of these, Embraer has delivered around 175 E195-E2s and 38 E190-E2s, leaving around 319 jets in backlog.

This backlog is outpaced by every Boeing and Airbus commercial passenger family of narrowbody and widebody aircraft currently in production. The A330neo comes close with 334 outstanding orders.

The A220 (formerly CSeries) entered service in 2018 and has attracted 1,106 orders, including 998 for the stretched A220-300 and 108 for the shorter A220-100. 532 have been delivered, and 574 are currently in backlog.

The A220 has outpaced the second-generation E2 programme in both orders and deliveries, though it remains well behind the overall E-Jet family.

The Chinese COMAC C919 may eventually overtake the E-Jet in deliveries given that over 1,000 examples are estimated to be on order, mostly by China-based airlines.

It’s also worth noting that Boeing has recieved orders for 2,927 widebody Boeing 787 aircraft, of which 1,299 have been delivered.

Embraer’s new E-Jet E2 airliner

The E-Jet family first entered service in 2004 and is now serving more than 90 airlines in over 60 countries. The fleet has amassed around 48 million flight hours and carried over 2.85 billion passengers globally.

Embraer writes, “Comprising the first-generation E170, E175, E190, and E195, as well as the second-generation E190-E2 and E195-E2, the E-Jets family delivers outstanding performance, fuel efficiency, and passenger comfort.”

The airliner seats four abreast, compared with five for the A220, which typically seats 15-20 more passengers than the E-Jet family. The two aircraft are sized between regional aircraft and narrowbody aircraft. The A320 and 737 seat six passengers across.

The flagship E195-E2 has an advertized range of 3,000 nautical miles and a max single-class seating of 146. Porter Airlines is the largest E195-E2 operator, followed by Azul and KLM Cityhopper.