Polish flag-carrier LOT has received its first Embraer 195-E2 regional jet, one of three it is leasing from US-based company Azorra.
LOT had disclosed in early May that it had signed for the aircraft for introduction this summer. The initial aircraft (SP-LEA) was flown on 30 July from Embraer’s facility in Brazil, via Recife and the Canary Islands, to Warsaw.
It will commence services with the twinjet on 11 August, either to Oslo or Zurich.
The airline is already an operator of Embraer E-Jets, the first of which – an E170 – it brought into the fleet 20 years ago.
“With these [E2] aircraft, we will increase the frequency of flights to selected European cities, offering passengers a high level of comfort in the latest-generation fleet,” says chief executive Michal Fijol.
He says the modernisation is part of the company’s ‘Destination Eco’ initiative.
Commonality of the cockpit will allow LOT’s E-Jet piltos to “transition smoothly” to the E2 fleet, says LOT’s Embraer fleet manager Piotr Strzalkowski. “After undergoing training, pilots will be able to fly both types.”
LOT will have all three leased E2s in operation by the end of the third quarter, the carrier states. The type is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines.
Embraer commercial aircraft chief Arjan Meijer says the LOT delivery – undertaken “in double-quick time” through the Azorra agreement – takes the number of E2 operators to 17.
