Embraer S.A. announced today, at the 2014 edition of the Farnborough International Airshow, that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A for 30 firm orders for the E195-E2 jets. The firm order is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year, when the aircraft will be added to the Company’s backlog.

Besides the firm order, the LOI includes additional 20 purchase rights for the same model, bringing the total potential order to up to 50 E195-E2 jets. The contract for the E-Jets E2 has an estimated value of USD 3.1 billion, at list prices, if all purchase rights are converted to firm orders. As the first airline to order the E195-E2, Azul becomes the launch operator for this aircraft.

“With the E-Jets family as the backbone of it’s fleet, Azul has brought affordable air travel to an entirely new segment of the population in Brazil,” said Paulo Cesar Silva, President & CEO, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “With this order today, all of us at Embraer are proud to know that the Brazilian market will continue to be served long into the future with our latest products. We thank Azul for their commitment and partnership which has culminated in this very important milestone that we celebrate today.”

Currently, the Brazilian airline has a total of 82 E-Jets in service and another 11 on order. It operates the largest fleet of E195s in the world.

“Our partnership with Embraer has been fundamental to Azul’s success from the very beginning.  Since 2008 the E-Jets have enabled Azul’s exponential growth, resulting in the creation of an entirely new market for domestic air travel.  In addition, by selecting airplanes designed and developed in our home country, Azul significantly contributes to thousands of highly skilled jobs in Brazil”, says David Neeleman, CEO. “The E2 will be the most advanced model in its category, allowing us to reduce operating costs, further increase capacity and deliver an even higher level of service to our customers”.

The first delivery of an E-Jets E2 (the E190-E2) is planned for the first semester of 2018.  The E195-E2 is slated to enter service in 2019 and the E175-E2 in 2020. The E-Jets E2 program reinforces Embraer’s commitment to continuously invest in the company’s line of commercial jets and to maintain leadership in the 70 to 130-seat aircraft segment.  Embraer’s E-Jets E2s have state-of-the-art geared turbofan engines. Combined with new aerodynamically-advanced wings, full fly-by-wire flight controls and improvements to other systems, the E2s will deliver significant reductions in fuel burn, maintenance costs, emissions and external noise.

Embraer press release