Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer says its engineering design to convert the E190 regional passenger jet into a freighter has been certified by Brazil’s civil aviation authority.
The announcement came Tuesday during the Farnborough airshow in England, where the new E-Freighter was unveiled to the public for the first time. The show has not spurred any orders so far.
Embraer’s first entry into the air cargo market is a small narrowbody jet that fits a gap between the standard Boeing 737 and large turboprops, and also has promise as a replacement for older, less efficient models. It has a payload of 23,600 pounds.
Embraer said it expects to receive approval for commercial use of the passenger-to-freighter type from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency later this year, followed by certification of the container loading system.
The E190 freighter was launched in 2022 to target the e-commerce sector, which requires fast deliveries and decentralized operations to meet customer expectations for rapid delivery in secondary and tertiary markets. It performed its maiden flight earlier this year. Embraer also is developing a conversion model for the larger E195 jet.
Passenger-to-freighter conversions require extensive alterations, including removal of seats, the addition of a wider cargo door on the main deck, a reinforced floor to handle heavy containers, a rigid barrier in front of the cockpit, a smoke detection system and a cargo handling system to maneuver containers on and off the aircraft.
E-Jets converted to freighters will have over 40% more volume capacity and three times the range of large cargo turboprops, and up to 30% lower operating costs than larger, narrowbody jets, according to Embraer.
One potential drawback for the E190/195 is that the fuselage’s unique diameter prevents it from carrying standard-size containers that are interchangeable with other aircraft. Instead, the plane will likely require 88-inch-by-108-inch containers or pallets.
Astral Aviation, an all-cargo airline based in Nairobi, Kenya, will be the first operator of the E-190 freighter after agreeing in mid-2022 to lease two aircraft from Nordic Aviation Capital, which has committed to take up to 10 conversion slots from Embraer. It’s unclear if the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority will recognize certification by the U.S., Europe or Brazil, or undertake its own review before Astral can take delivery of the aircraft.
2043 outlook
Embraer also released its 20-year cargo forecast at Farnborough in which it said it expects global airfreight traffic to grow 3.6% per year through 2043 – midway between the recent Airbus forecast of 3.1% growth and Boeing’s prediction of 4.1%. It projected 600 deliveries of feeder cargo aircraft, mixed between new builds and conversions. The global fleet of cargo jets with a 20-ton or lower payload will increase from 400 today to 630, the manufacturer said.
Despite a glut in narrowbody freighters following a post-pandemic normalization in cargo demand, smaller freighters are still useful for linking smaller-demand markets and large hubs with more efficient capacity and frequency than larger jets, Embraer argued.
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