By Gabriel Araujo
PARIS (Reuters) -Brazilian planemaker Embraer on Tuesday notched fresh orders from American Airlines and Spanish carrier Binter for its E-Jets in deals announced at the Paris Airshow that are seen totaling about $1 billion.
The new firm orders come amid an influx of deals at the world’s largest air show, which is at Le Bourget for the first time in four years and took off on Monday with Airbus bagging a record 500-plane transaction.
Embraer, the world’s third-largest planemaker after Airbus and Boeing, said the new orders follow expansion goals of regional carriers such as Binter and Canada’s Porter Airlines, underscoring positive momentum for its planes in global markets.
Despite the new deals, shares of Embraer slipped more than 4% in midday trading in Sao Paulo, making it the biggest faller on the benchmark Bovespa stock index, as analysts at JPMorgan said the firm had a “slow start” in Paris.
“We were expecting Embraer to announce at least 30 new orders during the event,” they said. “We believe that additional new orders could be announced in the coming days, as in the last Paris Air Show Embraer divided its announcements into 3 days.”
Binter has placed a firm order for six E195-E2 aircraft, marking its fourth order of E2 jets to bring its fleet to 16 when delivered. The deal was valued at $504.7 million at list price, with deliveries commencing in the second half of 2024.
The carrier’s president Rodolfo Nunez touted the aircraft as “a game changer” for the company and “the perfect aircraft to lead our continued growth”, citing better-than-expected fuel burn and maintenance.
“The best orders are repeat orders,” Embraer’s Chief Commercial Officer for commercial aviation Martyn Holmes said.
That also applies for American Airlines which ordered seven E175 planes for its Envoy Air subsidiary, whose fleet of E-Jets will grow to over 141 aircraft by the end of 2024 after the new $403.4 million deal.
Leasing firm Avolon meanwhile signed a sale and leaseback agreement with Porter, already an Embraer customer, for 10 new E195-E2s in a transaction priced at $841.2 million, according to Embraer.
That is “another sign that the momentum the E2 is enjoying in the market is set to continue”, Holmes said.
The Brazilian company expects its commercial aircraft unit to deliver from 65 to 70 jets this year, up from 57 in 2022, and had previously said sales were also enjoying strong performance as travel rebounds post-pandemic.
The firm has restored its backlog to pre-2020 levels and is working to achieve 100 commercial deliveries a year within 3-4 years.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo; Editing by Steven Grattan, Jan Harvey, Alexandra Hudson)
