The manufacturer is still a dwarf against Airbus and Boeing but could do well thanks to the delays in deliveries of the two giants on the short-lived regional mail market.
The Scandinavian airline SAS, of which Air France-KLM is one of the main shareholders, announced Tuesday that it wanted to acquire 55 aircraft from the Brazilian aeronautical manufacturer is embraced for 25 billion crowns, or 3.35 billion euros.
“We have signed a contract on 55 Embraer E195-E2,” said SAS managing director Anko Van Der Werff during a press conference. The company will first buy 45 devices with an additional ten purchase option, he said.
The planes, whose first are expected in 2027, should mainly be used on flights within the Nordic region. They are presented as more fuel economical and quieter than the previous models of SAS aerial fleet.
Global traffic always increasing
“It’s like a rebirth,” said SAS leader. After years of financial difficulties, in particular because of the Pandemic of COVID-19, the Scandinavian company had placed itself in July 2022 under the protection of the American law on bankruptcies, called chapter 11. It completed its restructuring in late August 2024.
This contract also illustrates the rise of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer. If he is still a dwarf against Airbus and Boeing, he begins to finish his game thanks to the delays in deliveries of the two giants in a context of constant increase in traffic. 5.2 billion passengers are expected in 2025, a new record.
“This situation displeases us, even makes us angry, because it only lasted too much. The planes are not delivered in time, which causes a lot of problems for our sector. It is very disappointing,” said Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last December.
The eyes therefore turn to alternative manufacturers like the Brazilian Embraer, supplier of Alaska Airlines, Air France or British Airways. The indutories may well take advantage of these difficulties in doing well in the short regional mail with the Embraer E190, a single-colloquinal of around a hundred places that competes with the Airbus A220 (the smallest device in its range) and the Boeing 737-7.
A well -supplied command book
His command book fills quickly with SAS but also All Nippon Airways. It announces for 2024 a record turnover of $ 6.395 billion, an annual increase of 21%. He delivered 73 planes against 64 a year earlier. Now, it aims 77 to 85 commercial aircraft delivered this year.
Obviously, we are very far from the 820 deliveries Airbus aims This year against 766 in 2024. But the Brazilian knows that he has a card to play because he is able to deliver his devices much faster.
But to tickle the Airbus-Boeing duopoly, it will also have to change scale by producing larger devices. In addition to its development which will take time, it will be necessary to pass the stages of tests and certifications which, given the current context, may be more severe than ever.
It is therefore difficult to immediately respond to the gargantuan appetite of the companies.
“We have the capacity to make a larger plane,” said Francisco Gomes Neto, the boss of Embraer. “But at this point, we have no concrete plans. We really focus on the sale of the products we have,” he added.
Another track for airlines, the Chinese Comac which notably offers its C919 Middle Cai. But the latter is not yet certified in Europe and the United States. And the Chinese aeronautical industry still arouses distrust.
John Kirby, the boss of the American giant United, has thus considered “unlikely” that Comac compensates in the short term the difficulties of Airbus and Boeing. Another argument to embrace.
