KLM, Air France Make History with New Purchase

The Paris, France based Air France/KLM group has recently announced in a press release that they have signed an agreement to purchase 20 new regional airliners. This purchase allows both airlines to replace older aircraft, as well as offer service to more cities around Europe. The purchase is for a mixture of the Embraer's newest series of jets, the E-Jet. Six of Embraer's E-Jet series, the EMB-170, were ordered to operate for Air France Régoinal.

Four EMB-190's were also ordered to be operated by the same Régoinal divison of Air France. The other ten orders were for KLM Cityhopper, and were also for the EMB-190 jet. Also included in the agreement is the option to purchase another twenty jets, some for both of the EMB-190 and the EMB-170. The value of the initial order is over 600 million US dollars, and if all options are taken, the purchase will be for well over one billion US dollars. As noted by Embraer, this is the first joint airline order for any aircraft manufacture in the world.

Embraer's Executive Vice President Mauro Ken had the following to say at the press conference, " "To be selected by these world-class airlines will further enhance the competitive positioning of our E-Jets. We have two main reasons to celebrate today's deal: one is the confidence reinstated by our distinguished and loyal customer, Régional/Air France and the other is the welcoming of an important new member into the quickly-expanding E-Jets operators family, KLM cityhopper." He also said the following, "This joint order is the first from the Air France/KLM group and we are especially proud that it goes to the E-Jets family." Air France and KLM both said that they plan to replace their older aircraft, specifically, the Fokker 100.

Also present at the press conference were both representivies from KLM Cityhopper and Régional/Air France. KLM Cityhopper's managing director Michel Coumans said the following, "The EMBRAER 190 was selected after a detailed analysis to find a suitable replacement for our oldest Fokker 100. The EMBRAER 190 will allow KLM to offer improved comfort and performance, whilst reducing emissions and considerably improving the environmental impact of our fleet. We really look forward to welcoming the E-Jet into our European network." Both airlines are happy to finnaly have an aircraft on order to replace the Fokker 100, a nearly 20 year old airliner. In today's aviation world, new aircraft are a significant marketing advantage.

About the E-Jet series: Embraer's newest series of jets, the E-Jet, is a series of airliners ranging from 70 to 120 passengers. This order is for the EMB-170 and EMB-190, the smallest and second largest airliner in the series. The EMB-170 seats a maximum of 80 passengers and can fly nearly 2,500 miles. The EMB-170 is the smallest airliner, but is one of the most efficient of the series. The EMB-190 airliner seats up to 114 passengers, and can fly over 2,600 miles. The entire series of jets utilizes many common components, allowing for less maintenance expense and time in maintenance.