Regional Spanish carrier Binter Canarias is celebrating being the first European customer to take delivery of the Embraer 195-E2 jet, as it received the first of five it has on order yesterday. The handover ceremony was held at Embraer’s facility in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The airline will use its new jet to bolster its network between the Canary Islands, Africa and Portugal.
The first E195-E2 in Europe
Binter took delivery of its first E195-E2 yesterday, at a ceremony in São José dos Campos, Embraer’s main facility. Taking part in the celebration was Embraer CEO John Slattery, along with president of Binter, Pedro Agustín del Castillo. Various employees of Binter and Embraer along with industry press were present also.
Registered EC-NEZ, the E2 is configured in an all-economy layout of 132 seats, and is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines. Binter’s President, Pedro Agustín del Castillo, commented on the delivery in a press release, saying,
“Today´s event is very special for all of us, who are part of Binter. This Embraer E195-E2 aircraft is an important step in the history of our company that will become as well a jet operator. This new milestone, which coincides with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Binter, adds more advances to the ones that we have made in recent years, and that help to pursue our main objective: the improvement of the connecting of the Canary Islands, both inter-island and with external destinations.”
The airline originally ordered three of the jets in November 2018. At this year’s Paris Air Show, it went on to firm up an additional two options, taking the full fleet on order to five aircraft. This followed the certification of the aircraft from three key regulatory authorities in April this year; the FAA, EASA and ANAC.
Although the overall launch customer for the E195-E2 was Brazilian airline Azul, Binter is the first to receive the aircraft in Europe. KLM’s regional subsidiary Cityhopper also has the type on order, with 21 firm and 14 purchase rights for the aircraft. European regionals Helvetic Airways and Wideroe have already received the smaller sister to the 195, the E190-E2.
A step up for Binter
The E195-E2 is quite a step up for Binter, who have historically relied on turboprops for their operations. The airline has some 22 ATR aircraft in its fleet, split between the 72-500 and 72-600. Since summer 2018, it has been wet-leasing three Bombardier CRJ1000s from Medavia, which were the first jet aircraft to work for the airline. They did once lease a 737-400, but only for around three years.
The Embraer will be the largest aircraft by far in its fleet, accommodating 132 passengers per flight. In comparison, the ATR’s offer capacities of 68 and 72 passengers respectively, and the CRJ seats 100. As well as adding significant capacity for this airline, the E2 will deliver lower fuel consumption, quieter operation and lower maintenance costs for the airline.
As a regional airline, Binter is a successful operator. Last year it carried 3.6m passengers around a network that includes eight Canary Island destinations, nine African cities and two Portuguese locations. So far, Binter has not announced any new destinations as a result of its fleet changes, however, Embraer CEO John Slattery was positive it could be possible. He commented,
“We’re extremely proud to deliver the first E195-E2 in Europe to such an accomplished regional airline. Binter will showcase the very best of the airplane as it expands its network to more cities.”
We’re big fans of the E2 here at Simple Flying, and can’t wait to check out this first European addition when it begins operations. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.