Manufacturers competition
A production event in the ATR consortium was the receipt of a type certificate and the delivery of the first cargo ATR 72-600F. The aircraft was ordered by FedEx Express, 30 plus 20 options.
Embraer, Comac, Bombardier/de Havilland, ATR and Sukhoi delivered 120 regional communications aircraft to airlines last year. 48% less than a year earlier. The results achieved were among the worst in the past few decades due to COVID-19 and a sharp decline in air traffic and demand for new aircraft. Brazil's Embraer remains the leading manufacturer, donating 44 E-Jets (-51%). Chinese Comac (24 ARJ21-700) recorded a two-fold increase in production, while ATR suffered a 6,8-fold decrease. In addition, the Chinese Xian MA700 turboprop was at the prototype stage, and the Mitsubishi SpaceJet program was temporarily suspended.
Regional routes occupy a significant share in the global air transportation market. Aircraft with a capacity of several dozen seats are mainly operated, the most popular of which are jet ones: Embraery E-Jets and ERJ, Bombardiery CRJ, Suchoj Superjet SSJ100 and turboprops: ATR 42/72, Bombardiery Dash Q, SAAB 340 and de Havilland Twin. Otter.
Last year, airlines operated 8000 regional jets, representing 27% of the world's fleet. Their number has changed dynamically, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus on the work of carriers (from 20 to 80% of decommissioned aircraft). In August, Bombardier CRJ700/9/10 (29%) and Embraery E-Jets (31%) had the lowest percentage of parked aircraft, while CRJ100/200 (57%) had the highest.
Competition and consolidation in the aviation industry has resulted in several regional aircraft manufacturers currently operating on the market. The largest of them are the Brazilian Embraer, the Chinese Comac, the Franco-Italian ATR, the Russian Sukhoi, the Canadian de Havilland and the Japanese Mitsubishi, and most recently the Russian Ilyushin with the Il-114-300.
Embraer has produced 44 E-Jets, most of which are E175s (32 units). The photo shows the E175 in the colors of the American regional carrier American Eagle.
Producer activities in 2020
Last year, manufacturers delivered 120 regional communications aircraft to carriers, including: Embraer - 44 (37% market share), Comac - 24 (20%), Bombardier/Mitsubishi - 17, Suchoj - 14, de Havilland - 11 and ATR - 10. This is as much as 109 less than in the previous year (229) and 121 less than in 2018. The delivered aircraft were modern and environmentally friendly machines and totaled 11,5 thousand. passenger seats (one-class layout).
The 2020 production data released by the factories showed how the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted their results. They turned out to be the worst in the past few decades, which was associated with a sharp decline in demand for air travel and an associated reduction in the number of orders for new aircraft. Compared to the previous year, the largest, 6,8 times, decrease in production was recorded by the French-Italian label ATR (Avions de Transport Régional), and the Brazilian Embraer (Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica SA) - by 2 times. Only Comac (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) reported positive results, delivering twice as many aircraft to carriers. When evaluating Bombardier's performance, it should be taken into account that with the sale of the CRJ aircraft program to Mitsubishi, the Canadian manufacturer decided not to accept new orders, and all of its activities last year were focused on fulfilling overdue obligations.
In addition, the first flight was made by the Russian Il-114-300 turboprop, and the Chinese Xian MA700 was at the stage of static tests and the construction of a prototype for flight tests. However, the pre-series Mitsubishi SpaceJet (former MRJ) continued its certification tests for only a few months, since the implementation of the entire program was temporarily suspended since October. For the second year in a row, the Antonov An-148 has not been produced, mainly due to the deterioration of Ukrainian-Russian economic relations (the aircraft were produced in close cooperation with the Aviat plant in Kyiv and the Russian VASO).
44 Embraer aircraft
Brazilian Embraer is the third largest manufacturer of communications aircraft in the world. It has been in the aviation market since 1969 and has delivered 8000 units. On average, every 10 seconds, an Embraer aircraft takes off somewhere in the world, carrying more than 145 million passengers annually. Last year, Embraer handed over 44 communications aircraft to operators, which is two times less than a year earlier (89). Among the cars produced were: 32 E175, 7 E195-E2, 4 E190-E2 and one E190.
Embraers 175 (32 pieces) were delivered to American regional carriers: United Express (16 pieces), American Eagle (9), Delta Connection (6) and one for Belarusian Belavia. Aircraft for the American Eagle, Delta Connection and Belarus lines are designed to carry 76 passengers in a two-class configuration (12 in business and 64 in economy), while United Express takes 70 passengers. It should be noted that in most cases the aircraft were ordered by major US operators United Airlines (16) and American Airlines (8), intended for subsidiary carriers delivering passengers to their hubs.
The recipient of one Embraer 190 was the French regional line HOP! Airline subsidiary of Air France. It was ordered in a one-class configuration for 100 economy class seats. On the other hand, four new-generation Embraer 190-E2 aircraft have been handed over to Swiss Helvetic Airways. Like all the rest of this carrier, they are adapted to carry 110 passengers in economy class seats.
Most of all, seven aircraft, were produced in the E195-E2 version. Six of them were previously contracted by the Irish leasing company AerCap for the Brazilian low-cost Azul Linhas Aéreas (5) and the Belarusian Belavia. Aircraft of the Brazilian lines are adapted to carry 136 passengers in a single-class configuration, and the Belarusian two-class one - 124 passengers. One E195-E2 (out of 13 ordered) was manufactured for Nigerian Air Peace at the end of the year. African Line is the first operator to introduce an innovative, so-called. chess design for arranging business class seats. The aircraft is configured in a two-class configuration for 124 passengers (12 in business and 112 in economy). It should be noted that the performance of the latest E195-E2 is better than the older E195 models. Maintenance costs are 20% lower (basic check intervals are 10-25 hours) and fuel consumption per passenger is 1900% lower. This was mainly due to an economical power plant (Pratt & Whitney PWXNUMXG series engines with a high degree of dual power), more aerodynamically improved wings (tips were replaced with wingtips), as well as new avionics systems.
