Austral receives first two of 20 airplanes

Embraer marked delivery of the first two Embraer 190 jets to Austral Lineas Aereas, last Thursday, with a ceremony held at the Company's headquarters, in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. The Argentine airline ordered 20 Embraer 190 E-Jets, in May 2009, each configured with 96 seats in a dual-class layout: eight executive and 88 economy.

"With Austral joining our list of operators, we now have 53 airlines flying the E-Jets in 36 countries," said Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Embraer Executive Vice President, Airline Market. "We are very proud to see the Embraer 190 in the colors of Austral, and to have even closer commercial ties with Argentina, which has always had a dynamic air transport market and excellent growth potential. We are certain that the E-Jets are the right tool for assisting in their development."

The Embraer 190 jets ordered by Austral are of the AR (Advanced Range) model, and can fly 4,400 kilometers (2,400 nautical miles), nonstop. The seating configuration has four in each row, with two on each side of the aisle, thus eliminating the undesirable middle seat. Furthermore, all passengers will have a modern onboard entertainment system with individual monitors.

Embraer 190/FILE PHOTO

"The Embraer 190 is perfectly adapted to the company's need to use smaller airplanes to cover domestic routes in Argentina," stated Mariano Recalde, President of the Aerolineas Argentinas Group, which controls Austral Lineas Aereas. "With these jets, we will make Austral's operations even more efficient, increasing passenger comfort level, and we will also open new routes, in order to improve connectivity throughout the country."

The contract between Embraer and Austral is structured with the financing support of the Brazilian Social and Economic Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social - BNDES) and Banco do Brasil. The airline will primarily use the aircraft to replace older jets on domestic routes, to increase current flight frequencies, and to serve new cities. The new jets E-Jets allow Austral to fly nonstop on any route inside Argentina.

FMI: www.embraer.com