Graham Warwick/ Washington DC
Embraer expects to book firm orders for its new EMB-135 37-seat regional jet by the end of 1997.
The Brazilian manufacturer has formally launched development of the EMB-135, with a first flight planned for mid-1998, leading to certification and first delivery in the second half of 1999.
Development of the EMB-135, a derivative of the 50-seat EMB-145, will cost $100 million, says president Mauricio Botelho. Embraer, its risk-sharing partners and suppliers will provide 40% of the funding, with Brazil's BNDES industrial-development bank, as well as a Government technology-development financing agency, providing long-term loans covering the remaining 60%.
The only major change from the EMB-145 will be removal of two sections from the fuselage, reducing length by 3.5m. Price has been reduced from $15.5-16.5 million for the EMB-145 to $11.8 million for the EMB-135 by negotiating new deals with partners and suppliers based on their increased production runs, Botelho says.
Agreements negotiated for the EMB-145 were based on a 400-aircraft programme, and Embraer is projecting sales of an additional 500 EMB-135s. Powerplant supplier AllisonEngine confirms that the derated AE3007A3 turbofan selected for the EMB-135 will cost Embraer less than the AE3007A powering the EMB-145, although the changes are limited to reprogramming the full-authority digital engine-control (FADEC).
Embraer increased production of the EMB-145 to four a month in August, and plans to reach seven a month by December 1998. Deliveries of EMB-135s are to start in August or September 1999, and the company is planning for combined production of ten aircraft a month, beginning in 2000.
Botelho says that operators of EMB-135s and EMB-145s will see an additional 10-15% reduction in operating costs, through savings in training and maintenance made possible because of the 90% commonality between the types. Allison says that operators will be able to transfer AE3007s to EMB-135s when they run out of temperature margin on EMB-145s, extending engine life.
Botelho says that Embraer will compress the EMB-135 development schedule by modifying a pre-series EMB-145 to act as the prototype. Allison says that AE3007A flight-test engines already held by Embraer will be programmed with new -A3 FADEC software to supportEMB-135 development.
The Brazilian manufacturer continues to study the EMB-170, a 70-seat derivative of the EMB-145, but Botelho is worried by reports that Boeing may reposition the MD-95 at the 70- to 100-seat end of the regional-jet market.
"The 70-seat market is too small to support three or four competitors," he believes. "If Boeing sniffs, we catch pneumonia." Development of the EMB-170 would cost $170 million, Botelho estimates.
Source: Flight International
