In Service (December 2010)

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2010

IN THIS ISSUEBRITISH AIRWAYS 700 E-JETS

AUSTRAL GETS A MAKE OVER

PASSAREDO’S MOVE UP

WHAT’S ON CHANNEL 4?

THE AMMAN CONNECTION

ARGENTINA’S AUSTRAL GETS A MAKEOVERArgentina’s Austral Líneas Aéreas has taken delivery of its first five E190s and is flying them from Aeroparque Jorge Newberry in downtown Buenos Aires. The acquisition of the E190 is a key component of the airline’s modernization plan that will see some of its oldest B737s and MD80s replaced with 20 new E-Jets.

Austral’s E190s are configured with 8 Executive Class and 88 Economy Class seats that feature individual monitors for the in-flight entertainment system.

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The Advanced Range aircraft can fly up to 2,400 nm which, according to Aerolíneas Argentinas Group President Mariano Recalde, who oversees Austral, “will allow us to open new routes and improve connectivity throughout the country.”

The first E190s are being deployed to increase frequency and to substitute larger equipment on domestic routes.

June 2009

700 E-JetsBritish Airways CityFlyer Managing Director Peter Simpson took delivery of the airline’s eleventh E-Jet and the 700th to roll off the Embraer assembly line. The milestone was celebrated at a ceremony on November 5th in São José dos Campos.

Since the first E-Jet entered revenue service just over six years ago, an E170 with LOT Polish Airlines, 57 airlines from 40 countries have included members of the four-aircraft family in their fleets.

The theme of the delivery event was Keep Discovering, a reference to the diversity of business applications in which customers are deploying their E-Jets. When Embraer launched the program, it sought to blur the line between mainline and regional aircraft by offering an optimized platform developed specifically for the 70 to 120-seat capacity segment.

Airlines soon discovered that the traditional label of regional jet no longer applied and began configuring their E-Jets with premium-seat cabins and in-flight entertainment systems. Carriers scheduled the airplanes on long-haul sectors, some exceeding five hours, and interchanged them with larger Boeing & Airbus frequencies. The single-fleet type philosophy was challenged when low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways added the E190 to its fleet. Since then, E-Jets have been adopted by LCCs in the UK, Austria and Brazil.

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Mr. Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Executive Vice President, Airline Market (L); Mr. Peter Simpson, Managing Director, British Airways CityFlyer.

In his ceremony message, Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Embraer’s Executive Vice President for the Airline Market, highlighted the ongoing efforts of carriers to develop the performance capabilities of the airplanes. “In Australia, Virgin Blue is flying the E190 4 hours and 20 minutes between Perth and the Keeling Islands. What’s remarkable is that the route represents the longest distance that an E-Jet is flying over water.”

British Airways CityFlyer further demonstrates the capabilities of the E170 and E190 by operating both those types at London City Airport. Mr. de Souza e Silva added “LCY is a challenging airfield and BA is showing the real potential of the aircraft. It’s a tremendous achievement to see Peter’s E-Jets flying to and from the financial capital of Europe.”

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Brazil’s Passaredo Linhas Aéreas is undergoing an ambitious expansion plan that includes a transition from 30-seat Embraer Brasilia turboprops to a fleet of eleven 50-seat ERJ 145 regional jets. The airline’s commercial director, Ricardo Cagno, says “we studied the ERJ 145 for a long time before we decided it was a good option for us.” Aircraft performance and productivity were key elements in the carrier’s fleet renewal evaluation. “The declining popularity for smaller regional jets in the USA and Europe over the last five years has worked to our advantage not only for availability but also for lease rates.”

The larger capacity jet increased the airline’s ASKs instantly. Passaredo had reached a limit with its 30-seat turboprops and was continually spilling passengers on peak flights. That chronic problem was addressed with the twenty additional seats on the ERJ.

In addition to relieving the capacity constraints, the ERJs are permitting the airline to schedule longer nonstops and reduce its dependence on traditional hub flying. “Our productivity increased immediately” according to Mr. Cagno “and that has made our unit costs more attractive so that we can offer more competitive fares. We signed an interline

agreement with TAM and there is a possibility of more agreements to come.”

Many of Passaredo’s passengers are business travelers who have welcomed the comfort, speed and quietness of the aircraft. Mr. Cagno says “our passengers find the aircraft has the characteristics of an executive jet with its wide seats. They specifically comment on the extra legroom and lower cabin noise.”

Until the Brasilias leave the fleet at the end of March 2011, they will continue to fly on short haul routes such as Bauru to Marilia, a 30-minute hop. The airline’s current fleet of seven ERJ 145s is deployed on longer city pairs including Riberão Preto to Recife, a three hour sector. Passaredo has also introduced jet service between Goiania & Palmas, Goiania & Rio de Janeiro and Uberlandia & Rio de Janeiro.

The city of Riberão Preto is not only the location of Passaredo’s headquarters, it is also home to Embraer’s new South American maintenance facility. “The proximity to Embraer is ideal for us and we’ve already established a support contract.”

PASSAREDO’s BIG MOVE UP

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The move from turboprops to jets is just one part of Passaredo’s redesign of the airline. It has also introduced a new company logo, staff uniforms and airport check in desks. The investment in fleet and facilities will help

it achieve its objective of doubling the airline’s passenger volume to nearly 1 million this year. But Mr. Cagno is already planning beyond that. “If demand continues, we’ll be looking for even larger aircraft in the future.”

PASSAREDO’s BIG MOVE UP

December 2010

What’s playing onChannel 4?

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Parents love the way it keeps their children occupied. Passengers say a flight goes by faster when they are plugged into it. Even cabin attendants comment that their work environment is calmer with aircraft that have it. The great pacifier is, of course, an audio and video on-demand entertainment system.

Once strictly the domain of wide body jets, AVOD is finding a new home on single-aisle aircraft, including Embraer E-Jets. Air Canada’s fleet of E175s & E190s feature in-seat power ports and seat back touch-screen monitors that deliver hours of prerecorded on-demand movies and television programs. On its E190s, JetBlue Airways introduced the same revolutionary 36 channels of real time television, moving map, and radio broadcast technology that was an industry first on its A320s. The entertainment selection also includes four channels of popular movies.

JetBlue uses the services of LiveTVTM, an Orlando-based company that broadcasts live entertainment program feed from twelve satellites owned and operated by DIRECTV®, one the largest digital television entertainment providers in the USA. Transmitting stations on the ground receive the programming content, convert it to digital signals and then upload them to the satellites which are positioned over predefined geographical areas above the earth. The satellites then broadcast the new digital content to the JetBlue fleet.

If you look carefully at the top of the fuselage of any of the airline’s E190s, you can see an aerodynamic dome that houses a digital satellite antenna. The incoming signal is then delivered by Ethernet to every passenger seat back screen. Each JetBlue E190 also has a small blade antenna on the fuselage that is used to receive up to 100 channels of XM Satellite Radio.

7December 2010

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A compact XM receiver controls the distribution of audio programming allowing passengers to listen to live broadcasts including sports, talk radio, concerts and commentary.

The bulky under seat boxes that once housed in-flight entertainment hardware and reduced legroom and stowage space have been either relocated to the aft cargo compartment or replaced with wireless systems. The moves save weight, reduce maintenance and maximize a passenger’s personal space.

Several years ago, JetBlue, in cooperation with LiveTVTM, developed a wireless data link to be able to transmit information to and from aircraft parked at the gate at several airports, including Ft. Lauderdale where it has a large volume of daily flights. The double and triple-encrypted secured system can transfer new pre-programmed video content to a server on the aircraft in little as thirty minutes. The wireless link is also used to retrieve system maintenance and customer credit card information.

Other E-Jet operators with AVOD entertainment systems include Azul Airlines of Brazil, Air Nigeria, Gulf Air and Austral Líneas Aéreas of Argentina. Frontier Airlines in the USA is currently equipping its entire fleet of E170s and E190s with Gogo® internet connectivity.Space-restricting under-seat hardware boxes have been eliminated.

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Getting around the Levant has never been easier, especially if you live in Amman and fly Royal Jordanian. As airline CEO Hussein Dabbas explains “people who used to fly out on Wednesday and fly back on Thursday can now go out on Wednesday and come back on Wednesday. They can go for a lunch meeting in Beirut and come back without having to check in and out of a hotel, and that’s made it more attractive for people to travel.”

The frequency-building objective is fundamental to the Jordanian carrier and its fleet of five E175s and five E195s are instrumental in the airline’s strategy to increase network connectivity. “This is something that Royal Jordanian created in this part of the Levant. I don’t want to have a destination that I serve only once or twice a week. I want destinations that I serve once every day or with two or three or four flights every day. There used to be one daily flight to Cairo or Beirut. Now I have four flights a day to these destinations.”

Mr. Dabbas understands that adding frequencies must be balanced with the right aircraft size, particularly to secondary cities where demand may not support large jets. “Choosing regional jet capacity made it easier for us to offer these flight frequencies. If I had to use 140, 150 or 200-seat airplanes, it would have been a very expensive venture for us and we would not be able to have the seat load factors that we have now using smaller jets.”

The AmmanCONNECTION

December 2010

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The airline was careful to introduce an aircraft type that would appeal to the expectations of passengers that were accustomed to flying on larger airplanes. It chose to configure its E-Jet fleet with Crown Class so that it could offer a premium business cabin across the network. Passengers connecting between Royal Jordanian’s E-Jets and long-haul intercontinental flights have a consistent travel experience and on-board standard. “We were the first to introduce the E195 & E175 to the region and they have been a huge success with our customers. We keep hearing - wow, this is a small airplane but it really looked and felt like a comfortable and big kind of an aircraft.”

The frequency strategy seems to be paying off. Higher-fare business travelers appreciate a flight schedule that respects their value of time. Royal Jordanian’s flights are planned to satisfy the demands of that segment of travelers. “We know for a fact that people maybe don’t want to fly on a three o’clock in the morning flight and are willing to pay another fifteen, twenty or thirty percent more to leave on a ten o’clock morning flight.”

With the evolution of the network comes the evolution of the passenger. Mr. Dabbas has seen a dramatic increase in the sophistication and expectation of Royal Jordanian customers. “Many ask - what aircraft are you flying to that destination? Passengers are very picky … they are demanding more from airlines.”

Amman is proving to be a new gateway to the Levant and the Middle East. Expansion of Queen Alia Airport is well underway with construction expected to be completed by August 2011. As the carrier with the greater number of flights at the airport, the new facilities come at time when

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E-Jets. Connecting the Levant. And MoreRoyal Jordanian needs the additional capacity. According to Mr. Dabbas, growth in the Middle East and Gulf is higher than anywhere else in the world and, consequently, the demand for air travel is growing.

Royal Jordanian is on course to keep building its network of 58 international destinations with its fleet of 30 Airbus & Embraer aircraft. Its success was recognized by Arabian Business magazine as the recipient of the Airline of the Year Award for 2010. The distinction was given to the airline for its quality of service in the region and its successful expansion strategy.

For some companies, it’s location, location, location. For Royal Jordanian, it’s frequency, frequency, frequency.

Hear more of Mr. Dabbas’ views on Royal Jordanian’s frequency-building strategy by clicking on Media Center at embraercommercialjets.com.

December 2010

MILESTONE E-JET DELIVERIES

100th • Air Canada

200th • Copa Airlines

300th • Compass Airlines / NW Airlink

400th • Republic Airlines / US Airways Express

500th • Régional / Air France

600th • LOT Polish Airlines

700th • British Airways CityFlyer

53 AIRLINES FROM 36 COUNTRIES

In ServiceIssue 2 Vol. 2 • December 2010Published by Embraer’s Market Intelligence Division

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.

LOT Polish Airlines Alitalia ExpressCirrus AirlinesAir CanadaUnited ExpressFinnairDelta ConnectionUS AirwaysUS Airways ExpressJetBlue AirwaysCopa AirlinesParamount AirwaysTAMESaudi Arabian AirlinesFlybeRégional/Air FranceRoyal JordanianAir Caraïbes

WHO IS FLYING E-JETS?

SATENACopa Airlines Colombia Mandarin AirlinesEgyptAir ExpressKenya Airways AirnorthVirgin BlueAeroMexico Connectnas airBaboo AirlinesTianjin AirlinesMontenegro AirlinesKunpeng AirlinesTACAAir NigeriaMidwest ConnectionJ-AIRArkia

AzulKLM CityhopperAir DolomitiFuji Dream AirlinesAir EuropaNIKIAugsburg/Lufthansa RegionalTRIPWindrose AviationLinhas Aéreas de MoçambiqueBritish Airways CityFlyerLufthansa CityLineGulf AirFinncommFrontier AirlinesAir MoldovaAustral

PolandItaly

GermanyCanada

USAFinland

USAUSAUSAUSA

PanamaIndia

EcuadorSaudi Arabia

UKFranceJordan

Guadeloupe

ColombiaColombia

TaiwanEgyptKenya

AustraliaAustralia

MexicoSaudi ArabiaSwitzerland

ChinaMontenegro

ChinaEl Salvador

NigeriaUSA

JapanIsrael

BrazilNetherlands

ItalyJapanSpain

AustriaGermany

BrazilUkraine

MozambiqueUK

GermanyBahrainFinland

USAMoldova

Argentina

19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.

37.38.39.40.41.42.43.44.45.46.47.48.49.50.51.52.53.

Publisher & EditorByron Bohlman

Art DirectionNaomi CovacsAgência Ginga www.embraerinservice.com | [email protected]