Embraer has revealed additional details about its new turboprop project. Rodrigo Silva e Souza, head of marketing and strategy at Embraer Commercial Aviation, today laid out a vision for the new aircraft while also detailing that the aircraft is targeted to hit the market in this decade.
What will the aircraft look like?
At a virtual Farnborough Airshow Connect presentation viewed by Simple Flying, Rodrigo Silva e Souza stated that the project is moving forward because of the aircraft's versatility. He believes that the plane could be applied in markets with small demand and places where it is difficult to fly in a commercial jet.
In addition, he noted that the environmentally friendly aircraft for short-haul flights, coupled with the aforesaid reasons, means that there is plenty of room for Embraer to introduce a new plane– even as the industry faces a significant downturn.
Embraer's strategy, moving forward, is to create a turboprop that reduces carbon emissions and fits in the large turboprop category. The plane would seat between 70 and 100 passengers. Embraer believes that the technology is in place to bring the aircraft to market. Behind the scenes, the project is moving forward with the team conducting extensive market research and talking to engine suppliers.
Where this new turboprop fits in
If you want to visualize where this turboprop would fit in size-wise, this turboprop will compete with the Dash 8-400 and the ATR 72-600. The Dash 8-400 maxes out at 90 passengers, per De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, while the 72-600, at the high end, seats 78 passengers, according to ATR.
Embraer's turboprop would also be similar in capacity to its current E-Jet lineup, with the E175 seating about 70-80 passengers while the E190s are about 90 and above. From this, we can see that Embraer is not necessarily looking to go back to its past with small turboprops and regional jets, but rather create an efficient turboprop that could support a variety of missions.
When will the aircraft launch?
Since the project is in its early stages of development, there is a lot more the manufacturer still needs to do. There are no final designs, no launch customers, and, most importantly, no big partnership to move the turboprop forward. Previously, this was something the manufacturer was looking at developing with the support of the American giant, Boeing.
Rodrigo Silva e Souza believes that it could be in the market by 2025. That would be a quick development for the aircraft. But, if Embraer does find all the technology and solutions are in place to build in the plane, it would not be too surprising to see Embraer push forward with development.
The last Embraer turboprop
One of the most iconic turboprops was the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia. It has been over twenty years since Embraer designed and marketed the aircraft, which could seat about 30 passengers.
The next turboprop will definitely be a massive advancement in comparison to the EMB 120 Brasilia. Nevertheless, it is nice to see Embraer moving forward with a new aircraft to bring to the market that could be more fuel-efficient and provide an upgraded passenger experience. However, before then, the manufacturer still has a lot of work to do.
What do you think about the new details of Embraer's new turboprop? Let us know in the comments!