Validation is an important thing – it allows us to confirm what we know. In the case of Embraer, they have taken their E195-E2 to London City Airport for its debut landing, ahead of its certification programme.
The visit was made as part of the certification of the type for steep approaches (such as the one used at London City Airport. The full certification for the steep approach into London City at the end of this year will include ground handling tests and other preparations for the aircraft’s first scheduled flight into City, expected shortly after certification.
Embraer’s test aircraft was welcomed with the traditional water salute from London City Airport’s fire service.
In Quotes
Alison FitzGerald, Chief Operation Officer at London City Airport, said, “
“The arrival of the E195-E2 signals that we are on the cusp of welcoming more new generation aircraft that provide world class environmental performance, carry more passengers, and have the potential to connect this airport with more global markets. This moment also represents the strength of the partnership we have with Embraer, and together, we are pushing the envelope of what’s possible at this airport, as at 146 seats and a wingspan of 35 metres, it will be comfortably the largest aircraft to operate from LCY. While the immediate focus is certification, we are hopeful that we will see the first E195-E2 in operation next year with KLM which will be real cause of celebration.”
Arjan Meijer, President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, said,
“London City feels like home for Embraer. It’s a great airport, not just because it’s fast and efficient for passengers to travel through, but because its unique challenges as an airfield demonstrate the excellent performance of our E-Jets. We are immensely proud to be the dominant aircraft brand at LCY, and look forward to seeing scheduled services begin with the E195-E2.”
An Embraer-port.
London City Airport is receives a lot of Embraer-type traffic, with BA Cityflyer, KLM Cityhopper, and Helvetic Airways being the primary users of the type there. Helvetic is also an operator of the E190-E2.
The airport is constrained, both with a tight decent angle of 5.5 degrees, combined with a short runway of 1508 metres. As such, the airport has restrictions on types that can operate there (with ATR, Fokker and Embraers mainly operating, with the odd Airbus A318 before 2020).
With this being the largest aircraft (by passenger count) the airport will allow when certified, it should be interesting to see who will take up the E195-E2 if they can scale their operations up that high.
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