Embraer announced on Tuesday that Congo Airways has converted a firm order for two E175s and two options placed last December to two E190-E2s with two options. The new deal is valued at USD$256 million at list prices.
Today, Embraer announced that Congo Airways has converted their December 2019 firm order for two Embraer E175s and two options. The carrier will replace the original order with two E190-E2 jets and purchase rights for two more of the type. The deal is valued at USD$256 million and the aircraft will be configured in a dual class layout with 12 staggered business class seats and 84 economy class seats. Deliveries are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022. In Tuesday’s announcement, Congo Airways’ CEO, Desire Bantu said,
“These new jets will be replacing our legacy turboprops and will allow us to extend our operations within the Democratic Republic of Congo, and regionally to the West, Central and Southern Africa. Despite the current difficult circumstances, the fundamentals of our market have not changed; so, we expect the momentum we’ve seen in the past to redevelop. I said in December that we may need to make an additional order for E2s due to the agility to adapt to market changes – we have now reached that point. As we prepare for future success, we will have the flexibility, and the right sized, most efficient aircraft, to serve our customers as the market returns.
Also commenting on Tuesday’s announcement, Embraer Commercial Aviation’s VP of Sales – Africa & the Middle East, Raul Villaron added,
“It’s great to welcome another airline to the E2 and Embraer family of operators, especially in Africa where the demand for regional travel had been growing strongly before the current crisis. Africa has long been a market with low frequencies and long thin routes. As airlines start to ramp up their operations, the E2 family of aircraft is perfectly positioned to right size routes previously operated by narrowbodies, while keeping frequencies and adjusting capacity to new levels. We look forward to supporting Congo Airways as they continue to upgrade their offering to their customers.
Embraer is the leading manufacturer of aircraft up to 150 seats and has more than 100 customers worldwide. The company has logged over 1,800 orders for their newest generation E-Jets and has already delivered 1,500 to 80 customers in 50 countries. Since the company’s founding in 1969, Embraer has delivered over 8,000 aircraft. Today, an Embraer aircraft takes off on average every ten seconds, carrying over 145 million passengers annually.
Source: Embraer