DALLAS —Air Peace (P4), Nigeria's largest airline, recently announced a new order with Embraer for five E-175 aircraft that are part of the first generation of the E-Jets. This deal is a significant step forward in Air Peace's fleet strategy to become the carrier with the largest and youngest fleet in Africa.

Air Peace currently operates a mixed fleet of 33 aircraft across Africa and Asia. The acquisition of these five E-175 aircraft will contribute to the airline's goal of expanding connectivity and ensuring that no city is left behind.

The CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, highlighted that the addition of these aircraft will help meet the demands of passengers and the continent of Africa. Additionally, the deal will create opportunities for establishing local maintenance capabilities in Nigeria, with direct support from Embraer.

It is worth noting that Air Peace already operates five Embraer E-195 E2 aircraft, which belong to the more recent and fuel-efficient generation of the E-Jet family.

This new order further demonstrates Air Peace's commitment to enhancing its fleet and providing increased connectivity in the region.

Extended Trust with Embraer

Air Peace has revealed that the introduction of the Embraer E-175 will serve as an enhanced replacement for the airline's current E-145 fleet, which is 23.4 years old on average.

The growing demand for flights in Africa, one of the world's rapidly expanding markets, has prompted the flag carrier of Nigeria to invest in larger aircraft to cover the domestic network inside the country.

The upgrade will increase the seat offer per flight from 50 to 88 seats, resulting in more than 250 additional weekly tickets on each of the 18 national connections Air Peace maintains from its main hub in Abuja (ABV).

No Next-Gen Alternative for the E-175

In addition to the ongoing fleet renewals by airlines, which involve replacing older Boeing 737 and A320 variants with re-engined modifications, Embraer provides carriers with a similar opportunity through their recently introduced Embraer E2 family.

However, it should be noted that currently, the Embraer E2 series is only available in the longer versions of the fleet, namely the E-190 and E-195 E2s, while the shorter versions still lack a true replacement.

Nevertheless, this doesn't imply that the Brazilian manufacturer hasn't made efforts to develop a new-generation aircraft in this category. The Embraer E-175 E2 was indeed designed and successfully took to the skies for the first time in December 2019. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was temporarily paused.

Entry into service was expected to take place in 2021. However, delays in the certification process moved the date of the first delivery up to 2027. Until then, Embraer still sells and delivers newly constructed E-175s from the previous generations to customers looking to upgrade or replace their fleets.

Featured image: Air Peace

https://airwaysmag.com/bermudair-fly-business-class-e175s/