Embraer 190 jet joins Alitalia fleet
Aircraft is first of 20 E-Jets for the Italian carrier .São José dos Campos, September 2011 – Embraer delivered the first EMBRAER 190 jet to Alitalia, yesterday, in a ceremony at the manufacturer’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil. This aircraft is part of an order announced in March 2011 for five EMBRAER 190 and 15 EMBRAER 175 jets by the Italian airline, and will be operated through a leasing agreement with Air Lease Corporation, based in the U.S.
“Delivering the E190 to Alitalia is a clear endorsement of the aircraft as the preferred equipment type in this capacity segment,” said Paulo César de Souza e Silva, Embraer President, Commercial Aviation. “The high degree of commonality between the E175 and the E190 will bring new efficiencies and cost savings, as the airline modernizes its fleet.”
The airline’s 100-seat EMBRAER 190 is configured in a single class. The aircraft will be used on Alitalia’s domestic and European network, out of seven airports: Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Turin, Venice, Naples, and Catania.
Alitalia was one of the first E-Jet operators, when it took delivery of the EMBRAER 170 for its Express division, in 2004. The 20 new aircraft will progressively replace Alitalia’s existing fleet of regional aircraft, and play a key role in developing the carrier’s ability to provide nonstop flights to short and medium haul destinations, while ensuring higher efficiency, lower emissions, and top-quality service.
“We welcome the EMBRAER 190 as the key aircraft to successfully meet our company’s strategic development plan,” said Rocco Sabelli, CEO of Alitalia. “This order will further reduce our fleet age, which is already among the youngest in Europe, and optimize it in terms of quality and efficiency to serve the Italian market and develop our intra-European network, specifically for our point-to-point network.”
Since they entered revenue service in 2004, Embraer has delivered over 800 E-Jets to 60 companies from 40 countries around the world. The versatile 70 to 120-seat four-aircraft family is flying with low cost airlines, regional services, and mainline carriers.
About Alitalia
Alitalia – Compagnia Aerea Italiana – began operations in January 2009, following the acquisition of assets from Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane and of Air One. Today, Alitalia is Italy’s leading airline, and transported 11.2 million passengers in the half year closed on June 30, 2011 (+5.7% more than the first half of 2010), with its 150 aircraft fleet (June 2011), across a network of 92 destinations (2011 summer season). In 2010, Alitalia positioned Air One as a low fare, high quality carrier operating from Milan’s Malpensa Airport. The airline is a member of the SkyTeam alliance and, in 2010, the company joined the airline industry’s leading trans-Atlantic Joint Venture with the Air France-KLM Group and Delta Air Lines. Further information is available on www.alitalia.com.
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