Latin America’s largest carrier, LATAM, may not be receiving its first Embraer E195 E2 until late this year, but Brazil’s president Lula da Silva has given the airline’s deal with the OEM an unusual seal of presidential approval.
At an event in LATAM’s MRO base in São Carlos, São Paulo state, on being presented with a model of the carrier’s planned aircraft, Lula da Silva excitedly trotted around the hangar, model of a LATAM E195 held aloft, in front of the gathered audience.
Local media reported him as saying that the combination of Embraer and the continent’s largest airline was “a marriage long awaited.”
In a major deal announced last September, LATAM ordered 24 E195 E2s, and took purchase options for a further 50 examples.
LATAM expects to receive the first of its new fleet in H2 this year, with all 24 firm orders scheduled for delivery by the end of 2027. Deliveries will initially go to LATAM Airlines Brazil and potentially later for other LATAM group affiliates.
The airline group, which has hitherto operated only Boeing and Airbus models, plans to use the E195 E2s to strengthen its South American network, with the opportunity to add up to 35 new destinations to its current 160.
The purchase, valued at $2.1 billion at list prices – although significant discounts are frequently applied – is intended to build on LATAM’s steady growth in the past four years.
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