Paris, June 21st, 2017 – Embraer announced today, at the 52nd International Paris Air Show, that has signed a Flight Hour Pool Program contract with Airlink, southern Africa’s largest independent regional airline, to support the 13 E-Jets they have ordered - the first E190 was delivered at the end of April and will go into service in June. The pool agreement, for up to ten years, will cover more than 300 part numbers and aircraft components. More than 60 per cent of the global E-Jets fleet is now supported by the Embraer pool service.

Airlink will be the first airline in South Africa to operate E-Jets. Their E-Jets fleet will include three E170s and 10 E190s. Already a significant Embraer customer, Airlink will soon operate 30 ERJs of all three types - ERJ 135, ERJ 140 and the ERJ 145. Airlink also extended their pool contract in December to cover 11 additional ERJ 140s – the delivery of which will be completed in the second quarter of this year.

“As an aircraftmanufacturer our responsibility to our customers does not finish when the aircraft leaves our factory. We need to ensure our aircraft are available for our customers’ to earn revenue and keep their passengers on schedule. Our new division, Embraer Services & Support, was created to give this area even more focus”, said Johann Bordais, President & CEO, Embraer Services & Support. “Soon Airlink will have a fleet of 43 Embraer jets, all of which are supported by our pool programme; it’s pleasing to offer a service proving so valuable that the customer expands the scope of our contract twice in less than six months.”

Embraer aircraft have been operating in Africa since1978, when the first Bandeirante turboprop arrived on the continent. Currently, there are 127 Embraer aircraft in operation with 39 airlines in 19 African countries, performing a vital role in connectivity.

Embraer is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial jets with up to 130+ seats. The Company has 100 customers from all over the world operating the ERJ and the E-Jet families of aircraft. For the E-Jets program alone, Embraer has logged more than 1,700 orders and over 1,300 deliveries, redefining the traditional concept of regional aircraft by operating across a range of business applications.