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Brazil's Embraer eyes more commercial aircraft in Asia Pacific as interest in smaller narrowbody jets rises

KUALA LUMPUR: Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer aims to secure more deals in Asia Pacific for its commercial aircraft, particularly the E2 family jets, as airlines find ways to connect to secondary cities while lowering their operational costs.

Embraer Commercial Aviation president and chief executive officer Arjan Meijer said airlines in the region have expressed interest in its smaller narrowbody jets especially after Singapore's low-cost carrier Scoot started operating the E190-E2 aircraft.

"I think Scoot has really started the move into Asia and we're very, very glad that we brought the E190-E2 there. We see Asian carriers are looking at how they're doing things.

"We believe this is a good case to look at multi-fleets and to not just look at cost per seat but looking at the profitability of the flights. That's where these aircraft (E2s) can make a difference."

"Our priority for Embraer is to really break into Asia. We've been traditionally very strong in Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia. We want to bring more aircraft into Asia," he told Business Times in an interview recently.

Scoot ordered nine new E190-E2 commercial aircraft in 2023 under a lease agreement with Florida-based aircraft lessor, Azorra.

Embraer Commercial Aviation Asia Pacific vice president Raul Villaron said Scoot's decision to operate the E190-E2 airplanes have triggered interest from neighbouring countries, especially Vietnam where the market can be served by smaller narrowbody jets.

The other Southeast Asia markets that present an opportunity for Embraer with its E2 jets is Malaysia and Indonesia.

Villaron said Embraer has three strong markets in Asia – Australia and China where close to 100 Embraer aircraft are operating as well as Japan with over 50 aircraft.

"These markets are flying the E1 (family jets) and at a certain point in time they will need to move to E2s when those aircraft reach retirement age. We see that as a huge opportunity. It's close to 300 aircraft."

"We were very successful in other regions and we were lagging behind with Asia. And that's because the E1 value proposition is more on trip cost versus seat cost," he added.

Villaron said the E2 jet has similar seat costs as an Airbus A320 or Boeing B737 MAX 8 but Embraer's smaller narrowbody jets have a lower trip cost compared to its two large competitors.

"Asia is a market driven by low-cost carriers. So, you would need to have seat costs," he said, adding that more regional flights served by smaller narrowbody jets are needed than long-haul flights given the structural change to the way people fly after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meijer said Embraer's plan to expand its presence in Asia Pacific is in line with the region's focus on making air travel affordable given that the Brazilian E2 airplanes have lower cost per seat.

He added that the development of smaller cities in the region also contributes to the increasing demand for smaller narrowbody airplanes as most airports in secondary cities are not able to handle large airplanes and bigger single-aisle aircraft.

"In Brazil we've seen the same. Azul Airlines has embraced the E2 and with the E2 they really make a change compared to other operators because they were able to connect Brazil first with the E1 (jets) then with the E2s. Brazil is a huge country."

"Brazil's goal is to make sure that everyone can get access to air travel. You can't simply do that by throwing big narrowbody (airplanes) everywhere. It just doesn't work.

When asked if Embraer will be developing a bigger narrowbody aircraft in the future, Meijer said the aircraft manufacturer is constantly looking at new developments in commercial jet, executive jet and defence.

However, he said the current focus for the world's third largest planemaker after Airbus and Boeing is to sell its E2 family jets as well as the Phenom and Praetor executive jets and the C-390 military airplanes.

"On our side, nothing has changed. We fully recognise what the market sees in our capability but we keep focusing on what we should be doing – selling our current products," Meijer added.

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