Regional connectivity push in India will boost demand for E-175: Embraer

Canadian aircraft maker Embraer on Friday said the regional connectivity push in India will boost the demand for its 88-seater model E-175 owing to its ideal size and operational flexibility.

"Currently there is a huge gap exists between 70 and 180 seater capacity aircraft while for the regional connectivity you need aircraft of a size that will cater to the needs air travel at smaller airports. Our E-175 model will perfectly fits into this need gap,"  Cesar Pereira, vice president, Asia Pacific of Embraer Commercial Aviation said on Friday.

The company claims leadership position with 29 percent market share in aircrafts of up to 150 seater capacity. Embraer has delivered around 140 aircraft to India in the past 5-6 years.

In Asia the company has 13 customers operating 164 aircrafts and recently it has added three new customers including one India customer, Delhi-based Star Air.

According to Pereira,  the company currently has an order back log for 50 aircraft in India, all from Air Costa, which had shut its operations last year. He said the order still stands good as Air Costa management has been making efforts to revive the operations.

Embraer Executive Jets vice president, sales(Middle East and Asia Pacific) says business aviation market in India also has a huge growth potential.  Providing more parking bays and other facilities at the airports would encourage the companies to go for business aircraft as the use of business jets would help in increasing the productivity and profitability in business. 

Currently there are 17 Embraer business jets in operation in India in addition to 5 Legacy 600 aircraft being operated by Government of India for VIP transport.