The small Air Madagascar (also called Madagascar Airlines) will be the new customer for Embraer’s commercial jets, announced Andry Rajoelina, president of the African country, on October 28.
According to the representative, the state-owned airline will fly a new Embraer jet in addition to a single Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Details about the agreements to take delivery of the new aircraft, however, have not been released by the government so far.
“We have already closed a partnership. The company’s fleet will be reinforced by an Embraer, which will arrive soon,” the head of state said during a conference last week.
Air Madagascar currently operates a fleet of seven ATR turboprops (six ATR 72 and one ATR 42) in addition to two aging jets, a 737-300 and a four-engine A340-300, according to Planespotters.
In March, Embraer took the E190-E2 on a tour of African countries and made a demonstration flight from Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.
However, according to the local press, the aircraft would have a capacity for “150 passengers”, which is far above what the E190-E2 can carry (114 seats), being closer to the E195-E2 variant (up to 146 seats)
According to authorities on the 587m² island in the Indian Ocean, the Embraer aircraft will be used on domestic flights, but also to nearby destinations such as Mauritius and even Dubai.
Due to the promised arrival of the jet to Madagascar, it is believed that it will be a leasing agreement.
Among its customers, the E2 jets have the lessor AerCap (5 E190-E2 and 45 E195-E2), AirCastle (2 E190-E2 and 23 E195-E2), Azorra (20 E195-E2) and ICBC, from China, with 10 E195-E2.
