Embraer holds periodic meetings with the aviation media and one of these events took place last week in Brazil.
Representatives of the German media were with executives from the Brazilian planemaker, who revealed some plans and possibilities for the future of the company.
Aero Telegraph highlighted the statement by Francisco Gomes Neto, CEO of Embraer, who considered launching a commercial jet larger than the E195-E2. According to the executive, “this could be an opportunity for the future”.
The largest version of the E2 family can be configured with up to 146 seats, but has been used with 130 to 136 seats. Stretching the aircraft seems, however, unlikely, as the planemaker itself came to consider and gave up soon after.
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The scenario now, however, is different. Just over a decade ago, its main competitor was Bombardier, with the C Series. In the meantime, Boeing tried to buy the commercial division, but changed its plans. As a result, Embraer has to compete for orders with its former partner and Airbus, which took over the C Series, currently the A220.
Focus on Lufthansa and LOT
Embraer also commented on the competition for new orders from the Lufthansa group and LOT, both customers of the first generation of E-Jets.
The Polish carrier was the first customer of the new family of regional jets in 2004 and currently operates 39 aircraft from Embraer. Last year, however, there were rumors that Airbus would have closed an A220 order with the airline, which was not confirmed.
It is believed that LOT will close an order for 50 new jets soon.
Lufthansa, in turn, has 34 E195s in its subsidiaries while Swiss is an A220 customer. Embraer would have suggested an order with 170 E195-E2 and 40 E190-E2 to replace not only the current E-Jets like the CRJ900 and the Airbus A319.
E2 assembly line in China
Gomes Neto was also interviewed by Aviation & Week and admitted that a large order of E2 could make a final assembly line in China feasible.
Embraer would be part of an official visit by Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva to China this week, but that was canceled for medical reasons.
According to outlets in the country, an order for 20 E2 jets was expected to be announced, the first in more than five years without new agreements from Chinese airlines.
The Brazilian company already had a line of jets in the Asian nation, but that was closed in 2016 after 13 years of activity. On the occasion, Embraer entered into a joint venture with AVIC to assemble the ERJ 145 and its business version, Legacy, in China.
The partnership managed to deliver about 50 aircraft years until it was dissolved.
