Embraer Delivers 900th E-Jet to Kenya Airways

Oct. 11, 2012

Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, October 10, 2012 – Embraer reaches a significant milestone today, with the delivery of its 900th E-Jet, an EMBRAER 190, to Kenya Airways in a ceremony held at the company’s headquarters in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.

“The delivery of the 900th E-Jet is a great achievement for Embraer, and we are very pleased to deliver this aircraft to Kenya Airways, one of Africa’s leading airlines, only eight years after the first E-Jets entered revenue service in 2004,” said Paulo Cesar Silva, Embraer President, Commercial Aviation. “E-Jets were the first aircraft to change traditional thinking about 70 to 120-seat aircraft and revolutionizing regional transportation by bringing more connectivity or frequencies to passengers, providing more flexibility to their traveling plans while improving the airlines´ operational efficiency.”

Today, E-Jets are in service with more than 60 airlines from 40 countries with four different types of business models - mainline, low-cost carriers, regional application and most recently, with scheduled tour operator. The aircraft routinely fly long sectors over water and operate at some of the world's most challenging airfields, like London City airport (LCY). The family also offers onboard entertainment systems, live satellite TV and radio, in seat power ports and Wi-Fi connectivity to the passengers.

“It is a real honor for Kenya Airways to be part of this highlight in Embraer’s history, by receiving the 900th E-Jet,” said Dr. Titus Naikuni, CEO of Kenya Airways. “The E190 is a versatile aircraft suited to our growth ambitions on the African continent. Given its mid-range capabilities, it ably supports our plans to fly new routes and increase frequencies on existing ones. It affords our passengers excellent cabin comfort while enhancing operating efficiency.  This new acquisition brings the airline closer to our vision of flying to every capital in Africa in the next few years.”

Kenya Airways’ E190 aircraft are configured in a dual-class layout with 96 seats: 12 in business class and 84 in economy. They feature individual screens for every seat, with In Flight Entertainment on demand. This aircraft joins the Airline’s existing fleet of twelve Embraer aircraft, comprising a mixture of five E170s and seven E190s. Kenya Airways has seven more E190 aircraft on order with a delivery each month between now and February 2013. The aircraft are operated from its Nairobi hub.


About Kenya Airways

Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa, operates the most modern aircraft fleet in Africa and is the state and flag carrier for the Republic of Kenya. It currently has a fleet of 38 aircraft and flies to 54 destinations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Its warm and friendly onboard service is renowned and the lie-flat business class seat on the wide-body aircraft is consistently voted among the world’s top 10. Recently, it scooped top awards at the Africa Investor (AI) Tourism Investor Awards and was declared the Business Airline of the Year in Africa. Kenya Airways takes pride in being at the forefront of connecting Africa to the World and the World to Africa through its hub at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). For more information, visit www.kenya-airways.com and @KenyaAirways


About the EMBRAER 170/190 Family of E-Jets

The Embraer family of E-Jets consists of four commercial jets with 70 to 122 seats, featuring advanced engineering design, efficient performance, outstanding operating economics, low emissions levels and a spacious cabin without middle seats (2x2).

E-Jets have a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.82, can fly at 41,000 feet (12,500 meters) and have ranges of up to 2,400 nautical miles (4,450 kilometers). The high degree of commonality among the four aircraft – EMBRAER 170, EMBRAER 175, EMBRAER 190 and EMBRAER 195 – results in exceptional savings for carriers in terms of crew training and the cost of spare parts and maintenance.  Another key feature of E-Jets is their state-of-the-art, fly-by-wire technology which increases operating safety while reducing pilot workload and fuel consumption.

The double-bubble fuselage design provides superior comfort and includes two main passenger and two service doors to minimize aircraft turn-around time.  E-Jets offer much more space for passengers, in a single or dual-class layout, than other aircraft of similar seating capacities. For more details, visit www.EmbraerCommercialJets.com.

E-Jets have achieved outstanding success with over 1,000 firm orders logged and nearly 900 E-Jets have been delivered and have. This proven family is helping airlines to right size low load factor flights on narrow body routes, to replace older, inefficient aircraft, and to develop new markets with lower operating costs, greater efficiency all while delivering outstanding passenger comfort. To better understand the benefits of these aircraft to substitute older jets, visit www.eforefficiency.com.