Binter Canarias has placed a firm order for three Embraer E195-E2 jets, with purchase options for two more.
A Letter of Intend (LoI) was signed by Spanish Binter Canarias and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer during Farnborough Airshow 2018 in July, but the airline chose to be kept anonymous (‘unidentified customer’) until now.
This firm purchase agreement will also include replacement engines, equipment, crew training and spare parts. According to list prices, the order is worth up to US $342 million. It is financed by a consortium consisting of major Spanish banks, including BBVA, Santander and Caixabank.
The regional airline from the Spanish Canary Islands is set to become the first European operator of this new aircraft type in 2019, just in time for its 30th anniversary.
Binter’s new jets will be configured with 132 economy class seats. They will likely serve the airline’s route network on connections to mainland Spain, northern Africa and other international destinations. However, the Embraer aircraft will, for now, not replace the three Bombardier CRJ-1000 which are flying for Binter Canarias in a wet-lease agreement with Air Nostrum and Medavia, the airline tells International Flight Network. Instead, Binter wants to use the new arrivals to expand its current fleet.
The 195 is the largest variant of the E-Jet-E2 family, which consists of the E175-E2, E190-E2 and E195-E2. Embraer delivered the first E2 aircraft (an E190-E2) to launch customer Widerøe, a Norwegian regional airline, in April this year. The E2-Jet family is the successor of Embraer’s popular E-Jet, both combined have orders for more than 1,800 aircraft.
Binter Canarias currently operates a fleet of around 20 ATR 72 turboprop aircraft and three wet-leased CRJ-1000s. A 2016-founded Cape Verdean subsidiary operates three ATR 72-500.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
