By Favour Nnabugwu

Air Peace will soon take delivery of its third Embraer E195-E2. With a total order of 13, there are still many more of these jets yet to arrive at the airline

The regional jet, configured by Air Peace with 124 seats across two classes, offers a modern and efficient aircraft. With fuel being a major operating cost for any airline, Air Peace had fuel burn-efficiency high on the priority list.

As part of a public statement issued when the airline boosted its order from 10 to 13, Onyema said that he and his team were receiving “impressive data about the aircraft’s economics” after the aircraft entered revenue service. “This was a driver to place this new firm order with Embraer,” Onyema explained.

Before the global crisis, Air Peace had been operating more than 20 local, regional, and international routes. With this in mind, it had strategic plans to expand those routes.

On the regional front with its African operations, Air Peace Chairman and CEO Allen Onyema sees the E195-E2 as the perfect aircraft. The airline chief says the jet furthers its “no-city-left-behind initiative,” which has the goal of enhancing connectivity in Nigeria and the African region.

In addition to connecting Nigeria and Africa, the jets will also be used to connect to the carrier’s international hub at Lagos. In doing so, the E195-E2s will feed Air Peace’s long-haul flights- operated by Boeing 777s.

Air Peace’s CEO also cited the aircraft’s ‘unique configuration’ as another major reason for ordering the E195-E2. In addition to being the very first African carrier to operate the type, the airline is also the global launch customer for Embraer’s innovative premium staggered seating design.

As shown below, this configuration gives every passenger direct aisle access by offsetting each seat from the one next to it. Business class passengers are thus able to enter and leave their seats without disturbing their seat neighbors.

Adding more Embraer jets to the fleet
Air Peace already has Embraer regional jets in its fleet in the form of eight ERJ-145s. While over 20 years separate the development of these jets and the new E195-E2s, there will be a handful of similarities in how the two types operate.

More importantly, however, is the simplicity in having just one planemaker to deal with in terms of service and support for Air Peace’s regional aircraft fleet.