Swiss regional airline Helvetic has taken delivery of its eighth Embraer E190-E2 jet. The aircraft landed at its home in Zurich at 20:15 local time on March 12th. This will actually be Helvetic's final E190-E2 delivery as the airline converted its last four E190-E2 orders into the larger E195-E2. Let's take a look at the delivery flight and Helvetic's fleet moving forward.
From Brazil to Switzerland
With Embraer's manufacturing facilities located in São José dos Campos, just outside of São Paulo, the E190-E2 made a stop at the Brazilian airport of Natal, located at the outermost Northeast corner of Brazil. Refueling in Natal, the jet crossed the Atlantic, flying for five hours and 12 minutes, landing in Las Palmas in Spain's Canary Islands.
Spending just over an hour refueling in Las Palmas, the aircraft, registered HB-AZH, completed the final leg of the delivery flight to Zurich.
Under "optimal conditions," the aircraft could have skipped the stopover in Las Palmas. This was evidenced with a previous E190-E2 delivery to Helvetic in July. It was during this delivery that an E190-E2 flew directly from Natal to Zurich. This was Helvetic Airways’ fifth new E190-E2.
Leaving Brazil at 06:37 (local time) and landing in Zurich at 20:48 (local time), the non-stop flight took nine hours and 10 minutes and totaled 7,488 km.
The last E190-E2 delivery (for now)
It was back on July 15th, 2020, that Helvetic Airways signed a commitment with Embraer to convert four of their remaining firm orders to the larger E195-E2 aircraft.
Announced in September of 2018, the original Helvetic order was for 12 E190-E2s with purchase rights for a further 12 and conversion rights to E195-E2. It is expected that the four E195-E2s will be delivered before the end of 2021.
As part of the press release, Embraer made the following statement:
"In a move to diversify fleet capacity, Helvetic Airways will configure the E195-E2 with 134 seats in a single class layout, while their E190-E2s have 110 seats. This gives Helvetic Airways the ability to alter their offering for airlines and other customers and to meet the actual passenger demand for each mission; very useful in the current environment where demand is seeing significant fluctuations."
With cockpit commonality between both the E2 versions of the E190 and E195, the same flight crews will be able to operate across all new variants.
The E190-E2s capabilities
According to Embraer, regular passenger service will see the Embraer E190-E2 have a maximum takeoff weight of 54 tonnes and the ability to transport up to 110 passengers to a range of over 5,200km. The jets are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines, which will allow the aircraft to consume 20% less fuel per seat than its predecessor type.
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Helvetic Airways, a provider of short- and medium-haul air services, will operate its fleet of Embraers from its Zurich base. Its operations are a combination of scheduled, wet lease, and charter flights.
Eight Helvetic Airways Embraer E190s are currently deployed on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines under a long-term wet lease agreement.
Have you flown with Helvetic Airways yet? Share your experience in the comments.