‘Defer E2 Deliveries In Challenging Climates,’ Embraer Advises Airlines

LONDON—Embraer is encouraging customers of its E2 family of small narrowbody jets that operate in hot and dusty environments to defer deliveries of the aircraft until a new combustor for its Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines is signed off.

Engines now being delivered on the E190-E2 and E195-E2 "are in a very good state to fly in benign environments," Embraer Commercial Aviation President and CEO Arjan Meijer said Sept. 19 in London.

However, the Brazilian OEM is advising airlines that operate in demanding environments, such as the Middle East, that they should wait until Pratt signs off a new combustor. This is expected to happen in late 2026 or early 2027, Meijer said.

Most new-generation engines have encountered some problems with dust ingestion in regions such as the Middle East, that leads to increased wear on engine components and premature removals from wings.

Embraer has relatively few E-Jet customers in the Middle East at present, with Royal Jordanian being the biggest operator. However, Omani LCC SalamAir said this week that it is deferring its planned acquisition of six E195-E2s, as well as six more under purchase agreements, until the engine problems are fully resolved.

“We’re focusing on putting the aircraft where it will work, and holding back a little on more severe regions,” Meijer said in a speech to the UK Aviation Club in London. “We’ve agreed with SalamAir to hold back until the new combustors are available.” The aircraft, ordered by SalamAir in October 2022, should have started to be delivered around now, but have been deferred.

Currently, deliveries of E2s take around 24 months from contract signing.

Another region to have seen recent interest in Embraer aircraft—both second-hand E1s and earlier-generation ERJ135/145s—is Africa. Meijer said discussions are under way with several airlines, but “I think there’s not a lot of operators in the African continent that can afford new-builds.”

Despite that, with 350 aircraft on the continent, Embraer is the second-largest OEM there, after Boeing. Meijer believes that Embraer aircraft made sense when used to complement larger aircraft, partly because most intra-African routes needed capacity of fewer than 150 seats.

Asked about progress with the E190-E1 freighter conversion program, Meijer said that certification had been received from the FAA and ANAC, the Brazilian regulator, and approval was now awaited from EASA.

“We believe there’s a good market out there ... we believe that between the ATR [turboprop] segment and narrowbody aircraft there’s a gap, as there are some very old aircraft flying in it now,” Meijer said. “We see a market of 600 aircraft over the next 20 years.”  

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Embraer is advising E2 customers to defer deliveries.