SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, BRAZIL -- Embraer has signed a firm order with LOT Polish Airlines for an additional 12 EMBRAER 175 (E175) jets, plus two options and ten purchase rights. The total value of the agreement is US$ 372 million, based on January 2007 economic conditions, and could come to US$ 744 million, if all options and purchase rights are confirmed. This deal is already included in Embraer's fourth quarter firm order backlog as "undisclosed".
"We are very proud to broaden our relationship with LOT Polish Airlines. This additional order is an important endorsement of the E-Jets family concept, since LOT started the operation of the E170, back in 2004, as one of the E-Jets launch customers," says Mauro Kern, Embraer executive vice president, Airline Market. "LOT is a long-standing Embraer client, starting out in 1999 with ERJ 145 regional jets. With this order, it will become Europe's largest E-Jets operator."
LOT Polish Airlines was the first operator of the E-Jets family in Europe, flying out of its Warsaw hub with the E170, in March 2004. The new E175 jets will complement the airline's existing Embraer fleet of ten E170s and six E175s, expanding its European route network to compete in most cases against conventional narrow-bodies. The carrier has chosen a comfortable 82-Elite seat cabin layout, and may also opt for another model of the E-Jets family.
"Our current fleet of E-Jets is performing smoothly and the additional E175s are the right aircraft to achieve our strategy of network development," said CEO Piotr Siennicki, of LOT Polish Airlines. "It also offers excellent synergy with our current narrow-body jets, enabling us to right-size aircraft to a route based on demand variations due to seasonal or specific time-of-day influences, thus improving our results."
