Open to tie ups for growing India presence: Embraer

financialexpress.com:

Brazil-based aerospace major Embraer plans to attract potential collaborators and partners to grow its presence in India.

Arjan Meijer, president & CEO, Embraer Commercial Aviation, told FE that he saw good prospects of a collaboration between the company’s technological know-how and India’s strong talent pool.

Over the past two decades, the aerospace major has designed, built, certified and serviced twenty aircraft types.

“Embraer has worked closely with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the development of the very successful AEW&C programme utilising the ERJ145 platform, commonly known as NETRA,” Meijer said. “Likewise, we see opportunities for collaborations on the civil aviation front,” he added.

At present, Embraer has around 40 commercial, business as well as military aircraft in the country.

“We recognise that India is one of the world’s largest civil aviation markets in the world and the UDAN scheme has been a great catalyst for growing the country’s regional connectivity,” he said.

Meijer made a case for more Embraer jets in India. He said that flight data research showed that 50% of domestic flights in India departed with only 90 to 150 passengers onboard. “Yet the aircraft most prevalent in India have an average of 180 seats meaning these larger aircraft are routinely operating with many unoccupied seats. This continual imbalance between demand and capacity costs airlines money by eroding yields and, ultimately, profits,” he said.

Meijer recommended the E195-E2 jets for India-based operators. The jet has a capacity of up to 146 seats, and offers a cost per seat that is comparable to larger next-generation narrowbodies such as the A320neo.

“This unique combination of compelling