Porter has received its first two E195-E2s and will inaugurate the type in February 2023.
Following the delivery of the first two Embraer E195-E2 aircraft to Porter Airlines on December 22, Azorra Aviation Holdings LLC announced today that it had finalized the purchase and leaseback process for five of the aircraft type.
Leasing the first five aircraft
Porter Airlines, the Toronto-based airline, is the North American launch customer for the largest of Embraer’s next-generation commercial aircraft, the E195-E2. The airline currently has a firm order for 50 and recently took delivery of the first two at Embraer’s facilities in São José Dos Campos in, Brazil. Porter plans to launch its E2 flights in February 2023.
Azorra Aviation Holdings LLC is an aircraft lessor with a 25-year track record in the industry, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The lessor also has an office in Dublin, Ireland. In its 25-year history, Azorra has overseen more than 500 aircraft trades and managed 275 aircraft with more than 100 airlines in more than 70 countries.
Photo: Porter Airlines
CEO John Evans is thrilled at the new partnership with Porter,
“Azorra is proud to be Porter’s first E2 lessor and to support its transformative business plan as the airline expands its well-established Toronto based franchise, providing business and leisure travelers with new choices across a longer-range network throughout North America. Porter is already an exciting Canadian brand that we expect will become the standard for air travel wherever it flies.”
Evans added that Azorra was excited to strengthen its ties with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer,
“We are also proud to further reinforce Azorra’s strong relationship with Embraer as we continue to engage in fleet transitions, SLB financing and placement of Azorra’s order-book. The E2 has achieved firm footing during 2022 with a host of new customers and is rapidly gaining market share with an expanding global operator base for the type.”
Building up to launch
In April 2021, a mystery customer placed an order for 30 E195-E2s, and there was much speculation that Porter Airlines was the airline the aircraft were destined for but that the buyer was a leasing company. On July 12, 2021, Porter revealed itself as the mystery customer and was officially poised to become the North American launch customer of the aircraft. It was confirmed that the airline had placed a firm order for 30 E2s and had purchase options for a further 50.
Photo: Embraer
Porter was set to become the Canadian launch customer of the Airbus A220 (formerly known as the Bombardier CSeries), and dropping the order in favor of the Brazilian-manufactured aircraft was a surprise to many. In July, Simple Flying analyzed why the Canadian carrier dropped its Airbus order and bought Embraer aircraft instead. In preparation for receiving its first aircraft, Porter revealed North America’s first E195-E2 simulator in September. Last month, as part of its final preparations, the airline unveiled it was building two new maintenance hangars in Ottawa.
Source: Aviation Source News
Have you flown on Embraer’s latest generation aircraft? What do you think of them? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: simpleflying.com
