Aerolineas Argentinas is looking to replace its 26 Embraer E190s with larger planes. Problem is, they need to unload the old fleet and there’s little demand out there for used regional jets. Embraer is preparing to start production of upgraded versions of its best-selling planes at the same time rivals from Canada to Japan are ramping up their own offerings of 90- to 100-seaters. “This space is getting very crowded,” said George Ferguson, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, citing the new options from Bombardier, Mitsubishi Aircraft and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. “The problem you get when you are crowded from a new product standpoint is everybody starts discounting a new product and that means all the used products get beaten down too.” Aerolineas is shopping around for new aircraft at several planemakers including Embraer, Airbus and Boeing, betting that demand will rise as the Argentine economy inches toward recovery and air travel increases. "In a growing market like ours, everything indicates the E190 isn’t the right plane," Aerolineas Argentinas CFO Abbott Reynal said. "If you have a market that consumes more, it doesn’t make sense to fly with a small plane and the same number of pilots, mechanics and so on." That said, if Aerolineas can’t get a good price for its Embraers, the fleet update could be in jeopardy, he said. Out of the 26 E190 they operate, 22 belong to the airline and four are leased. Aerolineas’ best route could be to sell back to Embraer and trade up for newer models, BI’s Ferguson said. The E195-E2 -- with a maximum of almost 150 seats -- is expected to start flying commercially in 2019.<br/>
sky
Russian state-controlled airline Aeroflot will help private carrier VIM Airlines after it asked for financial aid from the state, the Russian government said Thursday. VIM Airlines, also known as VIM-AVIA, has canceled or delayed dozens of flights for the past few days as it requested state aid to keep it afloat. The statement said Aeroflot’s board of directors was to meet on Thursday to discuss ways to support the operations of VIM airlines but did not say how much it would contribute. A source in the air transportation industry told Reuters that Aeroflot, which is majority state-owned, would spend some 1.85b roubles ($31.92m) to support VIM Airlines. Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s aviation watchdog, has said that VIM Airlines owes six banks some 7b roubles. Russia’s Investigative Committee, the state body which probes major crimes, said in a statement on Thursday that VIM Airlines’ director general and chief accountant had been detained on suspicion of fraud.<br/>
China Southern Airlines has established a branch company in Sichuan an effort to enhance its position in the fast-growing West China market. “With the establishment of our Sichuan Branch company, we will launch Air Express of Beijing-Chengdu, Guangzhou-Chengdu and Shenzhen-Chengdu [services] and add more domestic routes from Chengdu, including services to Lhasa. In addition, we [plan to] open international routes starting from Chengdu at a proper time,” China Southern Sichuan Branch GM He Xiaojing said. As early as 1995, the Guangzhou-based carrier set up a sales office in Chengdu, the Sichuan province capital, and opened four routes from Chengdu to Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen and Wuhan. As of August 2017, China Southern operated 29 domestic routes from Chengdu.<br/>