STAMFORD, CT, October 6, 2011 -- GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric Company, has reached an agreement with Embraer for the acquisition of six Embraer 190s, and options for another six aircraft. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012.
GECAS presently has 93 E-Jets of all models on lease with 15 airlines around the world. GECAS ordered two E-Jets at the Paris Air Show in June that are now contracted for lease to a South American carrier.
"Our customers' fleet needs continually change and it is important that we have a complete range of preferred aircraft to meet their evolving requirements," said Norm Liu, GECAS President and CEO. "We continue to see strong demand for Embraer's E-Jets as carriers of all types from around the world expand their point-to-point services. This order allows GECAS to help these carriers add to their fleets with the operational and financial flexibility of leasing. We have built a large base in the regional sector and we will continue to grow with these customers."
"It's very gratifying for us to see GECAS further increasing their E-Jets portfolio," said Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, President, Embraer Commercial Aviation. "GECAS is a long-standing Embraer customer and partner, and has been playing an important role for the E-Jets customer base expansion through its extensive global network."
Since entering service in 2005, Embraer has delivered 436 E190/195 E-Jets to more than 60 airline customers. E-Jets have a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.82, can fly at 41,000 feet (12,497 meters) and have ranges of up to 2,400 nautical miles (4,448 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 costs of spare parts and maintenance. Another key feature of the E-Jets family is state-of-the-art, fly-by-wire technology which increases operating safety while reducing pilot workload and fuel consumption.
Dan Whitney
GE Capital Aviation Services
[email protected]
203-585-2268
203-300-8707