Brazilian airframer Embraer, which thus far has failed to secure a foothold in India’s commercial aviation market, could benefit from the boom in the sector and demand for regional transport aircraft. It has set a target of delivering 100 aircraft in the sub-150 seat market by 2025, and India and China will be key markets to drive this growth.
According to Embraer’s 2022 Market Forecast, the airframer foresees world demand for 10,950 new aircraft with up to 150 seats over the next 20 years with a market value of $650 billion. Replacement of ageing aircraft will account for 57% of all new deliveries, while 43% will be used to grow markets.
The report said that while domestic and intra-regional airline traffic has increased steadily from 2010 to 2019 in SAARC countries, thanks to Low-Cost Carrier’s (LCC) expansion, regional connectivity is still an issue. Over 40% of intra-regional markets have less than one daily flight served with aircraft with an average of 117 seats. Indian carriers still need to optimise operations, open new routes to connect secondary markets, bypass congested hubs, and add nonstop flights and frequencies with higher-yielding fares.
Embraer offers a range of single-aisle jetliners, which are suited for market demand in the sub-150-seat segment in India. It is promoting its E195-E2 commercial jet as the world’s most efficient and sustainable single-aisle aircraft with the ability to seat up to 146 passengers. The E195-E2’s low operating costs, enhanced performance and low fuel and noise emissions can add value to India’s aviation landscape. The E2 has up to 25% reduced trip cost compared to other new-generation narrow-body aircraft commonly seen in the market while maintaining seat cost parity.
Currently dominated by Airbus and Boeing, Embraer’s E-Jets E2 family - E190-E2 and E195-E2 could prove the ideal aircraft for Indian carrier’s looking to grow their route network and drive passenger traffic to their hubs. KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways, Japan Airlines and major US carriers already operate E-Jets on their routes and feed traffic to air hubs.
Emerging Opportunities
The growth of domestic air travel in India could drive the growth of more regional airlines, such as Star Air which could operate aircraft in the sub-150 seat segment profitably. Indian carriers continue to face tough challenges such as fuel price fluctuations and an increasingly competitive operating environment, which make it imperative for them to right-size aircraft capacity to passengers. An imbalanced fleet mix could also threaten an airline’s regional connectivity ambitions. Flexibility is essential for airlines operating regional services, and operating a versatile fleet that can easily adapt to different demand levels is key to sustainable growth.
Embraer’s E2 jetliners are perfectly suited to complement current aircraft in India and can serve nearly all of the routes they operate on. The other challenge with operating larger single-aisle jetliners on regional routes is that they are often too large to fill with passengers in many sectors. Some routes may have high load factors but low frequencies (less than 1.5 daily flights). As a result, regional jets offer the perfect capacity for routes with adequate demand to fill one narrow-body flight; it would be impossible to fill two daily flights. Hence regional jets can become key assets for airlines, as they also provide better economics and environmentally responsible features, which are the best of any aircraft in their category.
The Indian market for regional air travel is currently skewed towards turboprop aircraft, but this is likely to change by the end of the decade, with customers' preferences moving towards more comfortable and faster regional jets providing services at a slight price premium. Embraer would benefit from such a shift, allowing many airlines operating in India to review their fleet strategies. Capacity management will become vital as consumers adjust their travel habits and traditional demand patterns. The aviation industry’s need to reduce carbon emissions also makes operating the right aircraft size imperative.
Right Sized
Currently, Embraer commercial jetliners are operated in India only by Star Air, which operates two Embraer E175 jetliners and five ERJ 145 regional jets. Star Air has a lease agreement with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for four E175s configured with less than 80 seats, benefiting from lower fuel taxes in some States and a landing fee waiver in participating airports in India.
GE CF34-8E engines power the E175 and has a range of approximately 3,000 km, and a meaningful under-belly cargo capacity, allowing it to gain additional revenue. Star Air’s ERJ 145 regional jets can seat 50 passengers, and they have a safety track record, with no fatal accidents in the last 30 years.
In February, OGMA – Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal, SA announced that it would support the maintenance of Star Air's Embraer ERJ 145 and EJET 175 fleet, reinforcing its presence in India. OGMA is the first Embraer Authorised Maintenance Centre certified by Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) to maintain the E-Jets E2 family in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Embraer’s E195-E2 commercial jet is yet to find an Indian customer, despite the aircraft’s low operating costs, superior performance and low fuel and noise emissions. Regional jets like Embraer’s E190-E2 and E195-E2 could be the ideal types for Indian carrier’s looking to grow their route network and drive passenger traffic to their hubs.
The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G chosen for the E195-E2 is claimed to be 16% more efficient than comparable engines currently in use on regional airplanes and narrow-body crossover jets. According to Embraer, the E2 can deliver 25.4% better fuel efficiency per seat and up to 10% better fuel burn than its competitors, and when compared directly against Airbus’ A220, an E2 would save operators an estimated 15,000 tonne of CO2 each year, equal to planting a space the size of 135 soccer fields.
Airlines using the smaller yet rightsized E2 could replace their larger and less efficient airplanes with the former, reducing carbon emissions by as much as 30%, which translates into 3,700kg less CO2 per flight, amounting to one million tonnes less CO2 over ten years for a typical fleet of ten airplanes. Embraer and Pratt & Whitney also successfully tested an E195-E2 aircraft on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in July 2022. The E-Jets E2 family of commercial jets will be certified by Embraer to fly with 100% SAF by 2030.
Embraer has also announced its plans to be carbon neutral by 2040 and achieve neutral carbon growth from 2022. It unveiled its Energia family in November 2021, with four concept aircraft of varying sizes. These aircraft incorporate different propulsion technologies – hybrid-electric, electric, hydrogen fuel cell and dual fuel gas turbine. It also invests in low emissions Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicles (eVTOL) developed by its spin-off company Eve. The first of these eVTOLs are poised to enter into service by 2026.
Also Read: