If there's one aircraft that turns heads at an airshow, it's one that's relatively rare, with a fantastic paint scheme. The Embraer E195-E2 demonstrator ticks both of these boxes with its largely hand-painted livery. Since its introduction to service in late 2019, 29 of the type have been delivered to customers across Europe, Africa, and South America.

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The aircraft follows on from the E195-E2 Tech Lion. Photo: Getty Images

The Embraer E195-E2 is the largest member of Embraer's latest E2 program and the second to come from the E2 family. As such, Embraer is keen to show off the E195-E2 at airshows worldwide, and Simple Flying was invited to step onboard this demonstrator aircraft at the recent Dubai Airshow.

Two restrooms and a galley at the rear

We started our tour of the single-aisle Embraer Tech Lion at the rear of the aircraft. What is instantly apparent is how much space is available at the back of the cabin.

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At the rear of the aircraft is an accessible toilet and a small galley area. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

Slotted away in the back wall is the first of three restrooms onboard the aircraft. You may think that it would be tiny, occupying the space where the tail begins to taper, but it's actually anything but this. While not huge, the room has enough space to move about and even offers a baby changing table. With a single part door that opens outwards, the restroom is also perfect for those who may suffer from mobility issues.

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There is ample space to move about in the aircraft's rear restroom. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying
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Just ahead of the galley is a smaller toilet with a folding door. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

Immediately next to the toilet is a small galley area. While the sort of flights that the E2 will be used for likely won't require complex catering, there is a coffee machine, hot water dispenser, a couple of ovens, and space for three standard-sized cabin trolleys.

As you start to move into the aircraft's main cabin, the seats immediately begin on the left of the plane. On the right of the plane, there is still one more restroom. Unlike the larger accessible toilet at the rear of the cabin, this one has an inwards folding door and much less space, but enough to use the facilities.

Spacious 2-2 seating

The cabin on Embraer's Tech Lion is split into two classes, economy at the rear and business up front. The business class cabin on this aircraft is pretty unique, but more on that a bit later. Embraer has come up with an innovative way to demonstrate the aircraft's possibilities to potential customers.

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The pitch between the seats slowly grows as you move forwards through the cabin. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

At the very rear of the aircraft, the seats have just 29 inches of pitch. While it sounds pretty tight, given the thin seat design, it isn't so bad. As you move up the cabin, the pitch of the economy seats slowly increases, reaching a maximum of 40 inches in the emergency exit rows above the wing.

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Passengers sitting in exit rows must be willing to assist, should an evacuation be required. Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

As one of the taller members of the Simple Flying team, headspace onboard an aircraft is always vital for me. I recently discovered that the Emirates A380's showers don't quite have enough space to stand up. I would typically find myself holding my head down on such a narrow aircraft. It was a pleasant surprise that I could stand up straight in the cabin of the Embraer E2 with room to spare.

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Each overhead bin holds four standard-sized suitcases. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

One other notable feature of the economy cabin is just how spacious the aircraft's overhead bins are. They are designed so that each can take four cabin-sized bags sideways. As each container sits over two rows of seating, the design means enough space to accommodate one cabin-sized suitcase per passenger.

Staggered business seating

One of the more exciting features of the Tech Lion demonstrator is the business class seating at the front of the jet. The reclining seats are staggered, meaning that they can be slightly wider than would be allowed by adjacent seats. These particular seats aren't featured on any commercial Embraer aircraft, though a modified second version is being rolled out with some of the two cabin fleet.

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The business class cabin has staggered seating. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

Passengers sitting in the window seats won't have direct aisle access, but with 56 inches of pitch, there is ample room to pass the person in the aisle without significantly disrupting them. As the seat in front is so far away, a seatback tray table wouldn't be practical. Instead, each of these seats has a tray table in the arm of the chair. This additionally includes a fold-out tablet/phone holder.

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Tables in the business class section fold out of the armrest. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

The window seats have access to two windows. The E2's windows are large, letting in plenty of light through the cabin. As such, it has a bright, airy feel without any lights being turned on. Of course, the lights come on as required, and the crew can change the ceiling lights to any color to facilitate an airline's brand or a different color for special events, such as if a football team chartered a jet.

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Plenty of space up front

Any pilot or avgeek will know that the best seats on any aircraft are the ones at the very front. Ahead of a third restroom is the cockpit. Typically it can feel like dancing on tiptoes trying to sit down in an aircraft cockpit, especially on the smaller jets. Even without moving the seats out of the way, this wasn't the case on the E195-E2.

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Everybody knows the seats up front are the best. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

One of the type's instructor pilots, Rafael Monteiro de Aguiar, took some time to point out the highlights of the cockpit. The E195-E2 is equipped with a glass cockpit, meaning that all the instruments are displayed on screens rather than as individual mechanical components.

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The cockpit is equipped with a full glass cockpit. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

The beauty of this is that the pilot can use a touchpad to configure them as they wish. Perhaps you want to monitor the engines during takeoff, but a map is more important in the skies. At the touch of a button, the pilots can move instruments around in front of them.

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Hidden in the cloth protection is the head-up display. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

The cockpit is also equipped with a synthetic vision system, meaning that pilots can visualize the terrain ahead of them and see if there may be anything dangerous approaching. While they were stored away for safekeeping during our visit, the aircraft also has a heads-up display, meaning that pilots can see critical flight data without taking their gaze away from what is happening out of the front windows.

Have you flown on an Embraer E2 aircraft yet? Let us know how you found it in the comments!