The largest operator of the Fokker 100 jets in the world, Alliance Aviation announced on Monday the purchase of 14 used Embraer E190 aircraft. The $80 million agreement also provides for the delivery of six spare GE CF34 engines and the option for five more Brazilian jets, in addition to a simulator and training equipment from the American company Azorra Aviation LLC.
Azorra is a company that leases and intermediates the purchase and sale of commercial aircraft of up to 160 seats in the market. In 2018, the company signed an agreement with Azul to negotiate the fleet of E190 and E195 jets, but it is not possible to know yet the origin of the planes that will be sent to Australia. The Brazilian airline had already negotiated part of its E-Jets in a leasing scheme with the companies LOT and Breeze, but the pandemic caused the company to postpone these processes, as far as is known.
The Alliance Aviation justified the choice of the Brazilian aircraft due to the difficulty of finding more Dutch jets in good condition. “Our Fokker 100 fleet remains the core of our fleet and we believe will remain in service for many years to come, especially given our significant spare parts and inventory stores. With limited Fokker aircraft acquisition opportunities, it was also the time to acquire a newer aircraft in order to position us for our next growth phase,” said Managing Director Scott McMillan,
With 42 Fokker jets in its fleet (27 F100 and 15 F70), Alliance is the largest operator of the regional aircraft that ended its career in 1997 and has currently been seen more in countries like Iran. Recently, the Australian company, specialized on charter flights, it acquired the Fokker 100 fleet from Helvetic Airways. The Swiss company removed the service jet in order to receive its new E190-E2.
The first Australian E190 will be delivered in September with the Alliance livery. “We expect the E190 to fly predominately regional routes. Given the reduced passengers on mainline routes due to COVID-19, the E190 has the potential to be the perfect aircraft type for some mainline routes,” explained McMillan.
The executive considered the deal a perfect shot: “With many airlines not flying and the increased demand for a 100- seat narrow-body configured aircraft in the Australian market, this acquisition is more than opportunistic, it underpins our expected growth,” he added.
With a capacity of up to 114 seats, the E190 is the second most numerous version of the Embraer E-Jet family. By June, the manufacturer had delivered 564 aircraft, with only four units to be assembled.
