Russia’s S7 Airlines joins the E-Jets operators’ family

Dec 22, 2016: Embraer has announced that S7 Airlines will be the first operator of the E170 in the country. This comes just weeks after receiving the Type Certificates from the Russian authorities for the E170 and E175 jets.

The airline signed an agreement with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) to lease 17 E170 pre-owned jets, therefore not impacting Embraer’s order backlog.

The airline will start to receive the aircraft in the first half of 2017.

“Once again, GECAS joins Embraer to provide aircraft to the Russian market,” said Arjan Meijer, Chief Commercial Officer, Embraer Commercial Aviation.

“New E170s will allow us to gain momentum in the development of regional air transportation. We see this segment as highly potential. Today, air transportation is concentrated in Moscow, and passengers from Ural cities often have to fly to the Far East through a connecting flight in Moscow. The first Embraers will be based at the Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport which is located well enough to serve as an efficient hub for other regions. The new type of airliners will allow us to launch flights from small and hard to reach cities, where the use of medium-haul aircrafts is impossible,” said Vladimir Obyedkov, CEO of S7 Airlines.

“The introduction of the E170 into the S7 fleet is the result of our thorough analysis of the airline’s growing needs,” said Alec Burger, president & CEO, GECAS.

“The E170 offers strong economics and is well-suited to help S7 serve the Russian markets.”

The E-Jets are already well established in several countries in the region– Poland, Finland, and Bulgaria – and in CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries where Embraer customers operate E-Jets in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

The E190 and the E195 were certified by Russia in 2012, and Saratov Airlines has been flying the E195 since 2013.