Asia Pacific will require 1,500 new 70- to 130-seat jets over next 20 years, according to Embraer

SINGAPORE, 13 Feb. 2014. Embraer Commercial Aviation forecasts airlines in Asia Pacific, including China, to take delivery of 1,500 new 70- to 130-seat jets over the next 20 years, representing roughly $70 billion U.S. at list prices and nearly 20 percent of worldwide demand. Sixty-five percent of the region's new deliveries will support market growth, whereas 35 percent will replace aging aircraft that are being retired.

At the same time, the Asia Pacific market will become more affluent, competitive, and liberal, further stimulating airlines to seek system efficiencies, brand differentiation, and improved service levels, Embraer analysts predict. As a result, the 70- to 130-seat jet segment will play a key role in the support of intra-regional development in Asia Pacific, officials say.

"Passenger traffic in the Asia Pacific region is mostly composed by secondary markets with low and medium demand densities of up to 300 passengers daily each way. Some 60 percent of those markets are not served nonstop, and around half of all markets served do not allow for same day return travel," explains Embraer Commercial Aviation President and CEO Paulo Cesar Silva. "Embraer E-Jets provide the capability to develop a better traffic feed system and greater network connectivity, as well as improving the quality of services on existing markets where there is not enough demand to support larger single aisle aircraft operations."

The region's economic growth has altered its socio-demographic context, with an increased urban middle class with more discretionary spending and therefore higher propensity to air travel. A positive economic outlook and intra-regional liberalization will drive air transport demand in Asia Pacific to increase 6 percent annually by 2032, led mainly by China and India. The region will become the world's largest market accounting for 34 percent of total revenue passenger kilometers, according to Embraer analysts.

As the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) model matures in the region, airlines have incentives to search for new opportunities to sustain growth by complementing their narrow-body operations with smaller capacity jets in point-to-point mid density markets, as well as in hub and spoke operations. E-Jets can play an integral part in the LCC and Mainline Carrier networks by providing the benefit of lower trip costs and competitive seat-mile costs, officials say. In addition, 40 percent of intra-regional turboprop capacity is offered on routes longer than 450 kilometers which are better suited to E-Jets operations due to its higher network productivity, better operating economics, and superior passenger appeal, they add.

The E-Jets family has logged more than 1,400 orders and over 1,000 deliveries to date and are in service with some 65 customers from 45 countries. In the 70- to 130-seat segment, Embraer has a global market share of 51 percent of orders and 62 percent of deliveries since 2004, reveals a representative. In Asia Pacific, Embraer has more than 80 percent market share in its segment with nearly 150 E-Jets delivered to 10 operators from six countries in the region.

Embraer Commercial Aviation’s three new airplanes (E175-E2, E190-E2, and E195-E2) have geared turbofan engines from Pratt & Whitney, new aerodynamically advanced wings, full fly-by-wire flight controls, and advancements in other systems that will deliver improvements in fuel burn, maintenance costs, emissions, and external noise compared to current-generation E-Jets.

The E190-E2 is expected to enter service in the first half of 2018. The E195-E2 is slated to enter service in 2019 and the E175-E2 in 2020.