Porter Airlines received the first two of its 50-strong order of Embraer E195-E2s during a ceremony at Embraer’s headquarters in San Jose dos Campos on 21 December. Toronto-based Porter plans to use the E195-E2s to spearhead its North American expansion with yet-to-launch routes to western Canada, the US, Mexico and the Caribbean. Porter has firm orders for 50 E195-E2s and purchase rights for 50 more, for a total list-price value of $7.38b if all options are exercised. On 15 December, Transport Canada certificated the E190-E2 and E195-E2, clearing the way for the jets to be handed to Porter. The Pratt & Whitney PW1900G-powered twinjets can carry 146 passengers but have 132-seat economy configurations, Porter says. Arjan Meijer, CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, notes that Porter’s seating configuration lacks “the dreaded middle seat”. “Porter is focused on delivering what we all want – making the air travel experience a pleasure rather than a pain,” he says. The jets will fly to Toronto before year’s end and enter regular service in February 2023, allowing Porter to roll out flights that month from Toronto Pearson International airport to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver – its first routes to western Canada. “The official delivery of these aircraft is the beginning of a new era for Porter,” says Michael Deluce, Porter’s CE. “The E195-E2 enables us to reach across the continent, beyond our eastern Canada roots, while introducing a level of service for economy air travellers that no other North American airline provides.” The E195-E2 is quieter and more fuel efficient than older generations of single-aisle aircraft, according to Embraer. “It has the lowest fuel consumption per seat and per trip among 120- to 150-seat aircraft and is the quietest single-aisle jet flying today,” Meijer says. Based at Toronto’s secondary airport Billy Bishop Toronto City, Porter currently operates a fleet of older 29 De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprops.<br/>
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Aerus, a start-up regional airline in Mexico, will launch operations with Textron Aviation’s Cessna SkyCourier and Cessna Grand Caravan EX turboprops. The Wichita aircraft manufacturer said on 21 December that Aerus will take two 19-passenger SkyCouriers and four Grand Caravans, which have room for 14 occupants. The first three Grand Caravans have already been delivered, Textron Aviation says. “A fleet of Cessna SkyCouriers and Cessna Grand Caravans will enable Aerus to be successful in growing service range and frequency of flights,” adds Marcelo Moreira, Textron Aviation’s vice-president of sales for Latin America. “Both aircraft offer superior performance and low operating costs in combination with flexibility in cabin and payload.” Aerus is based in Monterrey, Mexico, and plans to fly “unserved national and international routes”. It intends to begin commercial flights in the first quarter of 2023, Textron says. “When we looked at options within the market to operate the routes we had in mind, it was a no-brainer decision to choose the Grand Caravan EX and the SkyCourier from Textron Aviation, which will be the cornerstone of the Aerus project,” says Aerus CE Javier Herrera. <br/>
The South American carrier LATAM Airlines Group has announced a new alliance to capture 11.3m tons of CO2 by 2030, improving its sustainability efforts and looking to become more carbon-neutral while protecting the environment. LATAM Airline expects to reduce and offset 50% of domestic emissions by 2030. Its final goal is to become carbon-neutral by 2050. The airline said it is “committed to contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and strategic ecosystems, as well as preventing deforestation in LATAM’s areas of influence.” This week, the company announced a new alliance with the Cataruben Foundation concerning the CO2BIO project. This project aims to conserve and restore the floodable savannah and forests in South America, particularly in the Colombian Orinoquía region. The project expects to capture 11.3m tonnes of CO2 by 2030 in a 575,000-hectare property. Additionally, it will benefit 700 families in the area and is supported by the Natural Wealth Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). LATAM has pledged to support at least one similar project per home market by 2027. The company currently operates domestic flights in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. These projects should involve “the conservation of biodiversity and strategic ecosystems, always prioritizing the mitigation hierarchy in our operations, first to avoid and minimize our impacts, and then to restore and offset them,” according to LATAM’s sustainability website.<br/>