French charter and ACMI specialist Amelia has added two Embraer 190s, as it looks to reshape its future fleet.
The aircraft—one formerly operated by Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways and the other by China Southern—have taken their place in the Paris-based company’s fleet of around 20 aircraft, which range in size from Airbus A320s to Learjet 45 medevac executive jets.
One E190 has been dispatched to Chile to operate for Chilean carrier Aerovías DAP during the southern hemisphere’s summer season.
“Aerovías DAP has a contract with a cruise operator, and so we’re flying from Santiago to Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams, the world’s southernmost airport,” said Amelia’s Deputy CEO Marc Verspyck. The last of these airports has a short, very narrow runway, which limits the size of aircraft that can be handled there.
Amelia is seeking niche markets in which to deploy its aircraft, “and cruise operations are a good example,” Verspyck said. “We started in December and will be there until the end of the winter season—our winter, their summer. It’s a very specific operation.”
Amelia began operating the two E190s in the second half of 2025. “The idea is to be present in both the charter and ACMI market. We’re already active in the charter market with our Embraer ERJ145s. We know that this aircraft will not last forever, so we have to start replacing them, but we also see demand from customers, for example, rugby teams and corporate customers looking for larger aircraft.”
Rugby players are heavy and have multiple support staff, and using an ERJ145 to fly from, say, Perpignan in southern France to Edinburgh for a match can make the smaller aircraft feel a bit limited.
Although the European ACMI market has seen signs of saturating recently, “there aren’t that many players” in the 100-seater marketplace, Verspyck said. “There are a couple in Europe, and we believe, with a couple of aircraft, we can satisfy the demand.”
Amelia’s E190s have a 98-seat layout—six business and 92 economy—which suits the company, Verspyck said. Other airlines have a 106-seat full-economy configuration, but this requires an extra cabin crew member. “If, one day, it makes sense to change the configuration, we’ll do it, but, for the moment, it’s not a problem.”
Although 2026 will be a year in which to stabilize the fleet, “a sub-fleet of two aircraft is not efficient. Our target is five or six aircraft by 2027 or 2028. This will replace the smaller jets, the ERJ135/145.”
Verspyck added: “Our target is not to grow in numbers of aircraft, it’s to increase our core stability. We don’t want to take too much risk in terms of capacity and commitment, but we really want to be the best in the niche we serve.”
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