Low-cost operator Scoot has committed to taking nine Embraer E190-E2 jets from lessor Azorra, making it Southeast Asia’s first E2 family operator.
The Singapore Airlines unit announced on 17 February it has signed a letter of intent for the nine jets, with deliveries running from 2024 through 2025.
Scoot will deploy the aircraft on short- and medium-haul flights of up to five hours, serving “thinner routes to non-metro destinations out of Singapore”. The E190-E2s will seat 112 passengers in a single-class configuration – the smallest aircraft in the SIA Group fleet.
The E2s will be the third aircraft type in Scoot’s fleet, which comprises 32 Airbus A320 family narrowbodies – seating between 180 and 236 passsengers – as well as 19 Boeing 787s.
The low-cost carrier says the new regional aircraft “will effectively complement” the rest of its fleet, and that it “underscores Scoot’s confidence in the growing demand for air travel in Asia and allows it to better match capacity to demand as it enhances its regional network”.
Scoot airline chief Leslie Thng says: “The new aircraft ensures that Scoot is ready for growth by enhancing our connectivity in the region and supports the further development of our Singapore hub.”
Bloomberg first reported in December that Embraer had been in talks with Scoot on a potential order for up to 50 jets.
The airframer has for years been touting its E2 family aircraft to Asian operators - especially those in Southeast Asia. In 2022, it brought the larger E195-E2 on tour to a number of Asian countries, including to Vietnam, India, as well as to Airshow China in Zhuhai. Scoot’s commitment also comes more than two months after Embraer clinched Chinese certification for the E190-E2.
According to Cirium fleets data, there are 67 in-service E190 and E195-E2s, with orders for close to 200 examples. Of these, only five E190-E2s are in service with operators in Asia: four with Air Astana of Kazakstan, and one with Pioneer Australia.
