E-Jets Start Flying In Argentina In 2010

Embraer has sold Austral Líneas Aéreas, from Argentina, 20 Embraer 190s. The contract will go into effect after fulfilling certain requirements, and that should take place within two months. Deliveries are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2010.

The contract signing ceremony was held in Argentina’s Presidential Palace, and was attended by Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner; the Minister of Defense, Nilda Garré; the Minister of Planning, Julio De Vido; the Secretary of Transportation, Ricardo Jaime; the President of the Aerolíneas Argentinas/Austral Group, Julio Alak; and Brazil’s Ambassador to Argentina, Mauro Vieira. Embraer was represented by its Executive Vice President – Airline Market, Mauro Kern, and Vice President, Contracts – Airline Market, Eduardo Munhós de Campos.

“We are very proud to premiere our E-Jets in Argentina and to participate in the renovation of the fleet of this internationally renowned airline,” said Mauro Kern, Embraer Executive Vice President, Airline Market. “We expect to establish a long-term relationship with this important airline, supporting its operations with the modern and comfortable EMBRAER 190 jets.”

The airplanes will be the AR (Advanced Range) model, which allows flights of up to 2,400 nm, and will have a dual-class 96-seat configuration. Passengers will have onboard entertainment systems with individual monitors. Austral plans to use the Embraer 190s mainly to ramp up its frequencies on domestic routes, with the potential of opening new markets, thus allowing the airline to fly nonstop routes inside Argentina, as well as destinations in South America.

FMI: www.EmbraerCommercialJets.com, www.embraer.com