Embraer Wants New Aircraft Order

Embraer is targeting a new aircraft order in Malaysia as it seeks to expand its presence worldwide, notably through its E2 program.

The push from Embraer to deliver more of its E2 jets follows comments from the planeaker’s Vice President and Head of Asia Pacific, Raul Villaron.

Villaro suggests that, as part of the Brazilian planemaker’s efforts to expand its reach, Southeast Asia presents an exciting, currently untapped market.

As airlines in this part of the world, and certainly those within Malaysia, look to renew their fleets, Embraer wants to be the solution, offering aircraft across its E2 family, ranging from the E190-E2 to the higher-capacity E195-E2.

Embraer is looking at markets where airlines place a lot of emphasis on secondary city connectivity, and they find a need for frequencies that can bypass larger hubs and fly onward to smaller cities.

These secondary cities have seen a spotlight shone on them in recent years as airlines across Asia recognise that their populations will begin to grow and that enhanced connectivity will become a requirement.

Therefore, with the potential need for new narrowbodies across these markets, speaking with Business Times, the planemaker’s executive says the E2 would be a positive aircraft for this segment.

Embraer knows, however, that with any new aircraft order push, it will face competition, primarily from Airbus and its A220 program, which rivals the E2 but has long struggled for profitability, moving into the green and ramping up production rates.

With Malaysian traffic operating through what Embraer describes as a strategy that may not always be efficient, that being the flow of traffic through Kuala Lumpur, the Brazilian planemaker is hoping to discuss with the country and airlines better ways to manage this moving forward to create a more efficient solution to the matter.

Flying tier two to tier two connecting cities, instead of strictly focusing on leveraging Kuala Lumpur, is precisely why the planemaker wants to push itself to be a solution not just to airlines’ requirements but a solution to the future of how Malaysia and even the surrounding regions look to operate.

Embraer Knows Airbus & Boeing Pressures

What Embraer also knows is that the pressure on Airbus and Boeing to deliver new planes is crucial, with backlogs for single-aisle types extending long into the future.

While the Embraer E2 series cannot adequately replace some airlines’ older single-aisle models, such as the A320 and 737, for those looking to evolve their domestic and regional flying, the Brazilian planemaker can be a more immediate solution.

In fact, the manufacturer’s executive said that, with used aircraft hard to find, even the lead times for newer planes are challenging. However, there’s a feeling that if airlines need to make quicker decisions about their future operations, the Brazilian company can step in.

With capacity limitations and even struggles with slots, airlines are now being forced to diversify their flying and develop additional business models. The E2 is a possible addition that would change how operations are conducted here.

To date, the Embraer E2 family does not fly with any Malaysian airlines. Still, the manufacturer’s executive says it’s currently in discussions with several airlines that believe they would benefit from adding this plane at some point in the future.